The Ghost's boy
by Hetaliawall
Summary: As it turns out, having a French and Indian war soldier for a father can actually be a good thing, especially for a young Matthew Williams. When his mother moves them out to a small old house on the outskirts of Montreal Matthew was merely expecting life to be the same as usual, he certainly wasn't expecting for there to be a ghost in his kitchen.
1. Chapter 1

_Matthew stared out at the serene college, a slight smile tugging his lips upwards. The campus was every bit as beautiful as he had been told it would be, perhaps even better than he had thought when he heard about it's beautiful columns and large green dome. His only wish now was that his father could be here to see this beautiful college with him and to help him unpack his things into his brand new dorm room. However that would have been hard, nearly impossible actually. His father had been dead for hundreds of years._

 _No one would believe that such a shy, quiet college aged student could have such an interesting back story. But then again, quiet and shy personalities are usually a mask for interesting people with even more fascinating backstories…_

 _Everything started when he was five years old, when his mother moved them to the outskirts of Montreal, in an old run-down brick house that needed serious help._

"MATTHEW! Move out of the way!"

"Sorry mama!"

The woman towering over the small child merely puffed on her cigarette and walked on, leaving a trail of smoke as Matthew went to explore his new room. It was small and run down, but as was the rest of the brick house. Thick cobwebs lined the corners of the room, the walls had cracks and even a hole in it from the flimsy plaster not being able to withstand...Whatever it was that caused the hole. The wall itself was a sickly looking yellow color that reminded Matthew more of a sick person's face than the wall in his new room. The outside was only a bit better, with it being a colonial era rich fur traders house, so the outside walls were made of rusty colored bricks, but that certainly didn't help the core of the house, namely Matthew's room.

Regardless of his rooms condition, Matthew started to diligently unpack his boxes, pulling out precious book after precious book and arranging them on the rickety grey wire bedside stand. Matthew drew out his beloved stuffed bear and held it close, soaking in the familiar scent of cheap detergent, at this point anything was better than the odd musk that clung to the walls of his own room. It was an easy task to set up his new room since aside from the books and clothes there was not much else left to unpack.

Once done with his task Matthew went in search of his mother, but as usual she had forgotten all about him and had probably gone off to buy dinner for herself, either that or more of those cigarettes that made Matthew cough.

Since this sort of behavior could only be expected out of his mother, Matthew merely went to the kitchen and set to work on making dinner by himself in the old kitchen that smelled of a different musk somehow, this one a bit more like...Dead, dried up lavender, like if someone had left a twenty cent car air freshener in the kitchen to mask the old house smell, which while it was a noble attempt,it obviously not good enough as it seemed that the lavender scent only worked in the kitchen.

The small child hummed to himself as he worked, skillfully working the microwave to make his typical dinner, a quick cup of mac and cheese. As he worked on pouring in the oddly bright orange cheese powder he felt a small tingle on his neck, something warning him that all was not right. That suspicion was made true as a strongly French accented voice spoke up from the air behind him.

"What is _that_?! This is no meal for a growing boy! I have to wonder where his parents are…"

Matthews hands stiffened up as he dropped his dinner, scalding his bare feet with the boiling water and noodles. He trembled as he scanned the room for the source of the voice. Matthew hastily ran his t-shirt over his glasses lenses to clear them of the dust that hung heavily in the house and peered around again, speaking meekly.

"H-hello?...W-who's there?"

Matthew saw nothing, but sure enough the voice spoke up again, sounding just as surprised as Matthew was scared.

"You can hear me?...This is wonderful! Oh, I need to appear then…Now don't be startled, _d'accord_?"

Matthew nodded numbly as the dust hanging in the air swirled before him before solidifying into the shape of a man in an extremely old uniform; Matthew almost recognized it from staring at history books, the coat was a bright white with blue lining parts of it, and the stranger wore an odd hat with three sides, like a triangle. The figure was a tall man with long blond hair tucked back with a red ribbon, and he sported a wide smile.

" _Bonjour_! Now then, what is your name, _how_ can you see me, but most importantly, where are your parents little one?"

Matthew stared in shock and gathered his breath, speaking so softly he almost couldn't hear his own voice which eventually just trailed off into a mute whisper.

"My name is Matthew…I don't know how I can see you and…She left….I only have a mom."

The man before him frowned for a moment before kneeling down to his level.

"I am sorry Matthew, but I did not hear that last part. Could you repeat that for me?"

This was such a shock for Matthew that he didn't know how to react. _Never_ once had anyone cared enough about what he had to say that they actually took the time to ask him to repeat it when they misheard, which was often due to his soft spoken nature. As of right now though there was also the small fact that this was obviously a _ghost_ who had just appeared out of nowhere in his kitchen, which would make anyone tongue tied. When Matthew tried to speak again he kept on getting caught on the words, this making him panic even more because surely this stranger wouldn't wait long enough for him to calm down and say it!

Except he did. The stranger smiled kindly and urged him on.

"It is alright, it's alright, take your time little one, I know it must be a shock for you to see me, it's alright."

This soothing narrative continued on until he was finally able to repeat his statement. The stranger frowned at just what he had to say.

"Your mother left you here alone, without even making dinner?"

Matthew merely shrugged, too shocked to really comment on anything else at this point, why should his mother leaving seem odd when a _ghost_ had just appeared in his kitchen?!

"She always does that, I usually just make dinner myself….She….. works a lot."

"But you can't make a proper dinner! I don't know _what_ you were making but that is _not_ a proper dinner for a growing young boy! _Dieu_ I wish I could speak to your mother!

The stranger sat down and sighed, his hands making the motion of adjusting the ribbon in his hair with a peeved expression. Matthew sat beside him and stared as the ghosts hands went through his misty hair, the light making it even more thinner than when he stood in a shadow, he knew it was rude to stare but he couldn't help himself.

"At any rate…My name is Francis Bonnefoy, but you may call me Francis. _Oui_ I am dead but _non_ , I will not hurt you. _D'accord?_ "

Matthew nodded a bit bewildered but attempting to be polite to mask how he had just then been watching a particularly large piece of hair float straight through the man's chest.

" _Bien_! Now then, first things first! You will need a proper dinner and I will help you make one!"

Francis led him to the cabinets smiling and spoke as he pointed out ingredients, which Matthew fetched considering how his original supper was on the floor now anyway, he'd have to clean that up later.

"Now Matthew, a bit about me! Excuse me if I seem excited but I have not talked to a human in…A few hundred years?...Hmm, Perhaps it was few decades...If you count scaring an elderly women...Not that I _tried_ to scare her!"

Francis shrugged, pointed out another ingredient that Matthew had forgotten and continued on with his narrative.

" At any rate I have been "tethered" to this house for many years, since the Seven years' war or as some call, the French and Indian war. But really tethered is such a strong word, I _can_ move around a bit, but really only when I'm determined, besides I prefer this house anyway, it's _usually_ calm….At any rate I was killed at the fall of Montreal and I have been here ever since. I have learned from the people that have lived in this house, so I can teach you how to work the stove so you don't have to eat any more of that horrid orange stuff. However, no one has ever been able to see me… You must be a very special boy Matthew."

Matthews's response was almost immediate, just like telling lies about his mother working. Truth was he had no idea where she was, but she told him she was working so that's the lie he spread for her.

"I'm not."

Francis seemed taken aback, either by such a quick answer or by Matthews words.

"But…You are Matthew. No one has ever been able to see me, that makes you very special."

Matthew mulled this new information over for a moment, no one else seemed to think that Matthew was very special but then again, none of them had the years and experience that Francis did…After all, weren't the people with the most years supposed to be the wisest?

"….You think so?"

"I _know_ so Matthew."

Matthew thought about this and soon, a small smile graced his face.

"Ok…"

That afternoon they made pancakes and the easy breakfast items became a quick favorite of Matthews. Later during that week, Francis at first only appeared when Matthew needed him most, then slowly, he began to appear more and more until he was with him for most of the next week.

It took Matthew a while to figure the odd French soldier out, but once he did he figured something else out as well...Francis was one and only guardian. He was the one who made sure he was eating healthy, he was the one who told him to go find some new clothes when Matthew's began to wear out or helped him learn to sew up holes, and told him stories at night to help him fall asleep and taught him lessons about Francis's era. He actually cared, and he was there when his mother wasn't for those long weeks leading up to winter, winter break and Matthew's birthday.

A blizzard raged outside the Montreal home and Matthew, still only five years old, and he was alone. Well that is, except for a ghost.

" _Une, deux, trois_. Say that for me Matthew."

Matthew repeated the words back carefully, making the ghostly soldier break into a wide smile.

" _Bien! Très bien!"_

Francis smiled thoughtfully, looking like he was peering into the future itself, he thoughtfully rubbed his chin, even though his hand went through it.

"Soon I will have you speaking French fluently, and then you can woo all the young ladies!...N-not now of course _mon petit_."

"Why would I want to "woo" a girl?"

The word itself felt odd to say, but Francis chuckled a bit awkwardly and through that Matthew knew he was in for a story.

"If you can woo a young lady, when you are _older_ of course, but if you can then you will have and give love…Do you understand?"

Matthew shook his head mutely, not a lot of kids spoke to him, but much less _girls._ He really didn't know much about them outside of what he had seen in movies, tv shows and from observing the kids at school.

"Well…It's a bit like this…When I was fighting; I fell in love with a young woman, it for her that I survived so long. However, I did not manage to survive long enough…"

He shook his head and stood up, his haste floating him up a few inches.

"Let's go bake something; your cooking lessons are not going to stop just because of a storm!"

With that Francis floated straight through the wall, leaving Matthew to catch up and wonder. Why bring this up if he was only going to bolt off? Adults were odd, even if they were dead.

In Matthew's early childhood birthdays were nothing truly special since his mother typically worked as much as possible, she was trying to get away from him most of the time. At any rate, usually Matthew would wake up to a "from the box" cupcake, a book on his bedside table, and that was the end of that years birthday. Matthew honestly didn't know why his mother bothered so much, he could only guess that she felt that the small cupcake and book made up for the rest of the year.

This years birthday though, things would be different, Francis had promised him that but Matthew didn't get his hopes up. For one he didn't want to act selfish, and for another there wasn't much that France could do since he was well...Dead...So at any rate, Matthew didn't want to show any disappointment, and handling disappointment was easier when there was no hope to begin with. At least that's how he saw it.

That morning when he woke up he got found the typical chocolate cupcake on his bedside table and this years book was about geckos. Matthew set this aside in his small bookshelf and took the cupcake with him into the kitchen. The house was still and icy, his toes froze on the way to the kitchen. Outside it was snowing heavily, it was just as graceful as usual and Matthew watched it, hypnotized for a moment before thirst drove him to the fridge to get milk for his cupcake.

Matthew had just gotten the milk bag out of the fridge and when he turned around there was Francis, looking with utter disdain at the cupcake.

"... _What_ is this?"

Well it was obviously a cupcake but that didn't seem to be the answer that Francis was looking for.

"...It's a cupcake...From my mom, she always does this for my birthday."

Francis continued to glower at the cupcake before taking his transparent hand and swiping it forcefully through the cupcake a few times, obviously wishing to swipe it off the table and out of the house if at all possible but the cupcake didn't budge and so he sighed and turned to Matthew.

"What else did your mother leave you _mon petit_?"

"...A book about geckos."

"Is that all?"

For some reason, it was odd that someone was questioning this. For Matthew, this was just a simple fact of life. Of course he knew that other children had much grander birthdays but not him. That's just how it was.

"Yes that's all…Are you ok? I mean it really is a nice book….."

" _Oui_ , I am fine Matthew…"

Francis certainly didn't sound fine, in fact he sounded angry but Matthew knew him long enough to know that the anger was not directed towards him...He hoped.

Almost as if he could read minds Francis suddenly flashed Matthew a wide smile that set any fears Matthew had at ease immediately.

"Don't worry _mon petit_ , I will not allow this to ruin our day, _d'accord_?"

" _D'accord_!"

Matthew got himself a glass of milk while Francis stared at the cupcake for a while longer before forcing himself away from it and humming softly.

"So what's for breakfast?"

The humming was stopped abruptly by the quick diversion, soon Francis seemed to have forgotten the cupcake as he clapped his hands together as he always did when excited. This could only mean that Matthew would be learning a brand new recipe today.

"Something special for your birthday! Now then.."

Francis began to rattle off a list of ingredients, Matthew was scurrying around to get them all as it was an extensive list, longer than anything they had ever attempted before. Flour, sugar, cocoa powder, oil, eggs, and more were all piled onto the table quickly until he hurried back to the cabinet for more.

"What are we making?"

The ghost merely winked and kept on rattling off ingredients until he paused, surveyed the table critically, and finally nodded his satisfaction.

"That should be all of it..Now then, let us start simple."

Under the careful supervision of Francis, Matthew measured ingredients, beat them all together and then filled the mixture into a circular pan…

Matthew couldn't help but to gasp with his realization.

"We're making cake!"

" _Oui_ , we are. A real cake at that...At any rate, I wish that I could have made it for you but...Well we both know why that couldn't work."

Francis shrugged his shoulders but Matthew was still in awe. A real birthday cake...A _real_ birthday cake...If Matthew could have hugged Francis, he would have.

"No it's ok! I like it this way! I got to learn a new recipe, plus it was fun!"

"I'm glad that you think so Matthew...I'm very glad you think so...Now, if you wish to eat this cake you must put it into the oven."

"Oh! Right! Sorry!"

Matthew quickly took the circular pans and placed them gently within the oven, he pushed the door up and promptly plopped down in front of the glass oven door. With the light on inside the oven he could watch _his_ cake slowly rise within. Francis seemed just about to say something but he simply closed his mouth and joined Matthew on the cold floor, hovering a few inches off of it. Matthew stared into the oven and for what seemed like forever, nothing happened. Then, finally, he saw miniscule motion within. The cake was ever so slowly creeping to the tip of the pan.

It was working!

After a good thirty minutes the cake had swelled to the tip of the pan and the delicious smell of chocolate had wafted towards him. Just when the suspense got to be unbearable, Francis spoke.

"Let us check your cake Matthew."

A small toothpick was hastily retrieved and Matthew opened the oven door, letting the heat and scent of warm chocolate cake hit him for a second before checking it. This toothpick came out with dough, and so the door was closed and they waited some more. For a second and third time this process was painfully repeated until finally, on the fourth test the cake was declared to be perfect.

Matthew took the pipping hot cake out of the oven carefully and set it upon the counter. He basked in it's glory for a moment before tearing himself away to make the frosting.

"Alright now _mon petit_ , what flavor icing do you want? I know how to make vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, maple-"

" _Maple_!...Please!"

"...Are you sure? On chocolate cake Matthew?"

"Yes please!"

Just the thought of his absolute favorite syrup being on his birthday cake made him break into a warm smile, he started to twist on his feet excitedly.

" _D'accord, d'accord!_ Well if it makes you so happy, then absolutely we will make maple icing!...On chocolate cake."

He truly didn't understand Francis's hesitation, maple syrup was great on everything! Matthew had once even put some on a baked potato when they didn't have any butter, and he thought it was great! How Francis felt about it he didn't say anything more on it, instead he showed Matthew how to make the frosting, helping him to get just the right amount of flavoring, powdered sugar and butter to make the perfect maple frosting. Then, came the fun part, frosting the cake, he was so close to having a birthday cake!

"So Matthew you will want to spread it out evenly on the cake...No, that's alright just... _D'accord_ that's….this is fine _mon petit_ …"

Matthew was slathering icing all over the cake but no matter what he did, he could not make the cake look like those that sat in bakery shop windows. Instead his creation looked...Well, messy.

"It really isn't bad Mathew, you're doing quite good for your age, truly!"

His cake looked like a horrible, sloppy mess...But still, it was _his_ cake...His first ever real birthday cake, and so he was determined to not allow this to bring him down, besides all that truly mattered was the taste anyway, who cared if it was a hideous blob? Once he was done trying to rescue his cakes appearance (one last vain attempt), Matthew grabbed a plate and fork and sat at the table. Francis sat across from him, his hand twitching beside the cupcake that his mother had left him, he finally turned slightly so as to not have to see it.

"Go on Matthew, try your cake!"

For a moment, he couldn't. As ridiculous as it felt, he almost didn't want to eat his cake because when he did, nothing would remain of his first birthday cake...However, when he leaned in a little closer the maple icing scent hit him and this sentimental feeling was crushed as he grabbed a thick slice of cake and ate it rapidly.

The taste was astounding, the perfect combination of maple and chocolate. Once he had finished his first slice, he grabbed another and actually slowed down long enough to allow himself to savor the taste. Just as he was going in for a third slice he caught sight of Francis's amused expression and a strange feeling of disappointment hit him.

"Are you sure that you can't try any? You helped me after all!"

"Ah, I am sure Matthew but thank you...Sadly I can not touch anything, unless I am extremely angry and you do not wish to see that."

This was certainly something new. For as long as he had known "Francis the ghost" he had not been able to touch anything, even when "sitting" he was really just floating above the chair to give the illusion of sitting. The thought of Francis actually being able to touch something was honestly shocking, and it filled him with curiosity.

"But...Then you could help me with the food next time!...How angry?"

"Extremely angry, I never wish for you to see me in that state...It is not something I would wish for anyone to see."

"But-"

"Please Matthew, I am alright truly. You must enjoy your cake for yourself."

Francis stood and walked through the wall, leaving Matthew to his cake. Matthew had learned when to be quiet and so he said nothing to him and instead ate his third piece of cake, enjoying it immensely even after the odd conversation. With three slices gone from the cake it was still rather large and Matthew could feel his stomach bulge already. He knew that if the cake was left on it's own, his mother would surely eat it for herself, or worse, wonder how he had made it in the first place and how was he going to explain how he knew the recipe? A decision had to be made, and he made it fairly swiftly. He would finish the cake by himself, before his mother could get to it.

By the time Francis had returned over half the cake had disappeared into Matthew stomach.

" _Mon petit_ you are going to be sick if you eat that much cake!"

Ok, so while that might not have been the best idea it felt so _good_ to know that this was something his mother wouldn't find, this was all his own.

"I'm sorry."

A low sigh came from Francis as he sat down in the chair in front of Matthew.

"You do not have to apologize but just be careful to not eat too much more."

By the end of that night when his mother came home the cake was gone, and by midnight Matthew was sick in the bathroom.

It was worth it.


	2. Chapter 2

_Matthew remembered the first, and last time he had ever seen Francis truly angry. It was horrible on both accounts and yet...Oddly enough, that was how he knew that Francis actually cared about him more than anyone else. Now as he was entering his dorm he passed by a tacky colored vase full of flowers painting on the wall that dragged him back to that moment._

"Matthew! Clean the house while i'm gone! It had _better_ be _spotless_ when I get back!"

With that lovely morning greeting his mom stormed by and slammed the door, that being the first thing she had said to him in an hour. Did he care?...Not as much as he used to. Of course he still hated how his mother would just walk past him like she didn't even notice him, and how when she was talking to him it was only to order him to do something. Now at least he had Francis so he wasn't quite as alone anymore. It only took to a quick count of five for Francis to appear after the door had been slammed, the sound still ringing through the small brick house.

"She is as pleasant as ever, _non_?"

"Yeah….Well I guess i'm cleaning the house today."

There wasn't much to be done about his situation, if he didn't clean the house his mother would be upset and that was _never_ good. So, Matthew was forced to set aside his thought of a pleasant day practicing French and reading, instead he headed to the closet beside the bathroom and began to pull out supplies.

"You'd think that woman would help you, you're only a child…"

Francis's irritated muttering was louder than he apparently meant, but Matthew responded to it anyway.

"She hasn't really helped me in a while, i'm old enough to do chores, remember?"

"Oui...I remember."

The air inside the house was chilly as Matthew got to work, he started with the bathrooms and worked out from there, cleaning every surface till they were spotless, his hands itching from the sharp chemicals. Francis disappeared at points only to reappear suddenly to point out something that would make his job easier, the entire day it was obvious that he was peeved but Matthew had to focus on cleaning, besides there wasn't much he could do about that.

The day passed in a slow, monotonous stinking cloud of cleaning supplies and swirling dust. There were places he couldn't reach that would more than likely never get cleaned such as the ceiling fan which every time was turned on let loose a small rain of dust bunnies, or on top of the fridge which...Who knew what was on that by now.

Matthew was fairly done with everything but the dusting when his mother came back in. He held his breath, waiting, as his mother walked past, then went back to dusting with a bit more vigor, he wanted to get everything done quickly now that his mother was back.

He went from room to room, dusting everything off with furniture polish so that the house smelled strongly of cheap lemons until finally all that was left was a short table that had one leg just a centimeter too short, which supported a cheap vase. Why his mother kept the thing around he didn't know, maybe to make the house feel fancier than it really was, as if one single cheap vase could change the dust bunnies on the fan or the long cracks in the wall, but he wasn't here to judge. He was here to clean.

Matthew set to work on dusting the legs of the table carefully, it felt like even a faint breath would make the whole thing topple over. Once he was done with the tedious work of the legs he started on the table itself, that was when Francis showed up, still fuming apparently, even though Matthew was almost done by this point.

"Matthew stop this, i've had enough. Your mother should be helping you! I-I mean…"

He sighed and "ran" a hand through his hair, it did nothing but make his hand go through his head as per usual.

"Of course then your mother would be mad at you…"

"Yeah she would be...I'm almost done anyway, I really don't mind…"

He did mind, he knew now that he shouldn't be treated like this, but regardless he finished dusting the table that held that stupid "fancy" vase...Now that he thought about it, he hated that hunk of cheap glass.

Perhaps that was why he wasn't as careful as usual when he started to walk away.

Whatever it was, his leg caught the one centimeter short leg and he tripped, bringing down the table and the vase with him.

The table collapsed heavily onto its side with a crash and the vase….The vase was everywhere. Tiny and large shards of sparkling glass were scattered across the wooden floor, and Matthew was right in the middle of all of them. Right in the middle of his _mother's_ vase... For a moment he was struck by terror at that thought, his heart clenching as he looked at the mess, it took a second before he was able to realize that he was in the heart of a minefield of glass shards.

"Matthew! Stay right there! Don't move!"

What was Francis supposed to do though? Scoop him up and get him out of the pile of glass? There was nothing for him to do so Matthew ever so slowly started to walk, his legs trembling. His eyes scanned the floor where he stepped, avoiding jagged shards small and large with the utmost care.

He almost made it too.

On what was almost the last step out of the pile he glanced up at Francis to smile, he knew how worried Francis must be when _it_ happened. He felt a stinging pain in the pad of his foot as blood began to seep from the wound into a small puddle.

" _What do I do?!"_

Matthew stood stock still with one leg up in the air as it dripped down blood, a rather large shard of the glass embedded in his foot.

"Matthew stay right _there_!"

Despite how well that worked _last_ time, Matthew stayed exactly where he was as Francis hurried to the door, there was something in Francis's voice held anger and caused him to obey.

"Where are you going?!"

Francis's head jerked back to Matthew and for the first time since knowing the ghost his expression petrified him.

" _I am getting your mother."_

For a good minute Matthew stood there, blood steadily dripping down onto the wooden panels on the floor until finally both pain and morbid curiosity drove him to his mom's room where he knew she and Francis would be. He made his way there in short shuffling movements, doing anything to keep his injured foot off of the ground, which proved futile as a trail of blood splotches followed him. He'd have to clean that up later.

The closer he got the door, the more he heard and the less he recognized the voice that was screaming. It was distorted, strange and utterly reeking of hatred like a sort of verbal venom.

" **DID YOU NOT HEAR THE CRASH?! YOUR SON IS BLEEDING GO HELP HIM! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME…. AUGH** _ **LISTEN TO ME! NO ONE LISTENS!"**_

Matthews hobble quickened as the floor itself trembled, the picture frames on the walls rattled against the thin plaster wall and the door was slinging back and forth as he cautiously peeked within, making sure to keep his neck far away from the swinging door lest he wanted to add a snapped neck to his list of injuries for the day.

Inside, it was chaos. The trembling had worsened into vigorous shaking within, when he tried to get in he almost lost his balance, the rattling of the pictures on the wall and now the bedside table reminded him of an earthquake. Yet the air was tinged with electricity like right before a storm hit.

For the first time that he could remember his mother was the one cowering on the bed as item after item was flung at her with absolute precision. Books, pictures, even a lamp went flying by, and at the center was Francis. His state...he wasn't as thin and see-through anymore, there was a dense weight about him as he flung item after item at his mother, yelling in French, but his eyes were _glowing_ black...It was terrifying,his expression...Matthew was _certain_ that if Francis could kill his mother, he would...As well, possibly, anyone else caught in the crossfire.

That thought alone made Matthew start to back out of the room, his own survival in mind when his mother caught sight of him from where she was cowering, She opened her mouth to yell to him just as a book hit her square on the forehead, it's force flung her back on the bed. Blood dripped from her forehead as Francis stepped forward with the last heavy lamp in the room, his eyes blazing as he screeched coldy.

" _ **MATTHEW WOULD BE BETTER OFF WITHOUT YOU AS HIS MOTHER!"**_

"MOM?!...STOP IT! STOP IT!"

At the sound of his strained voice Francis turned around to face him, Matthew ran a hand over his eyes which was dripping with tears, he couldn't stop it so he just let the tears stream down and choke up his words. His mother was horrible to him, but he still felt loyalty to her as any child would. She at least kept him alive, so he shouted at Francis even as his legs threatened to buckle from underneath him.

"Stop it! You hurt her! Don't you see?! You _hurt_ her!"

Blazing black eyes trained on him until a flicker of blue came across them. Another flicker of blue passed until finally it sped up, the flickering abruptly stopped and Francis's eyes were back to normal, the air around him stilled as it lost the tinge of electricity.

"I…..Here Matthew your foot…."

He made a step forward, and Matthew took a step back, there was no way he was letting Francis close to him when he was like this. He knew to keep away from adults when they were like this.

"Please….I won't hurt you….I'm sorry...I'm so sorry Matthew...You can trust me!"

"But you hurt my mom….You hit her with a book till she bled….You were going….You were going to kill her…Weren't you?"

Francis stopped stock still, his eyes were no longer a blazing black but instead were a watery, pitiful blue.

"I told you I wouldn't allow this….Allow this to happen...I told myself this wouldn't happen...Not again….Matthew...Please, let me see your foot before you bleed out...Please."

He went to approach him again but Matthew took another hurried step back. The ghost's face was drawn tight as he sank to the ground, holding his head in his hands.

"I'm so sorry Matthew."

Matthew blinked and in an instant he was gone, it was if he had vanished from thin air. Usually there was some warning, he transitioned slowly so as to not startle the child but this...There was no warning...He was just...Gone.

That was when his mother woke up, her eyes lazily scanned the carnage until she found him, the blood was dripping into her eyes and clouding them. When she saw him she bolted up despite her bleeding head and staggered to him, towering over him.

"...DEMON, YOU BROUGHT THIS INTO OUR HOUSE."

"Mama I didn't mean to, he isn't usually-"

"DEMON! YOU DID IT AGAIN! YOU DID IT _AGAIN_!"

Matthew scrambled to his senses and fled to his room as fast as his bleeding foot could take him to avoid the strings of curses and books or other items now being thrown in his direction.

" _DEMON_ YOU'RE NO CHILD OF MINE, _YOU_ BROUGHT THIS EVIL INTO OUR HOUSE."

Matthew shut his door with a slam as he heard the thud of books being flung at it, the door bent with each heavy item flung at it but the wood blessedly stood against the barrage. The hail of items slowed down then eventually stopped and Matthew was able to take his full deep breath of the hour.

All was quiet for a few sacred seconds until Matthew pressed his ear against the door and heard the sound of his mother leaving, slamming doors all throughout the house, all leading to the front door. When Matthew peeked through the keyhole of his old door he saw his mother with a single suitcase, the one she always waved at him when threatening to leave when he was bad….Now she was actually doing it.

"Mom?...MOMMA!"

Matthew slung the door open in a panic, racing to the front door which was wide open as he heard the car being started.

"DON'T LEAVE ME!...PLEASE!"

The car drove on, leaving him with nothing but exhaust fumes and a glass shard that was now even deeper in his foot.

"...Mom?"

Matthew stood in utter shock, the bitter cold wind didn't even bother him as he stared off into the distance where his mother had sped off to.

"She's...Not coming back…."

Ever so slowly, Matthew tore himself away from the empty driveway and went back into the house, walking through it quietly. He didn't even care that he had left the front door wide open as he went to his bed and crawled in, his foot aching and dripping blood. How did everything go so wrong? All he had to do was clean the house. That was all. Now he had messed even that up and drove away the only adults in his life. There was no one to hear him now but he spoke anyway, his voice choked up, he felt as if he was going to be strangled from his sobs.

"...Good night."

With that he turned over, laid his head down into the pillow and went to sleep, the only thoughts that he would allow were that he would have to try and clean off the blood from the sheets tomorrow. He forced himself to not consider his survival from then on, maybe….Maybe his mother would come back…

In the morning Matthew woke up sluggishly, the house was frigid and when he looked at his foot the blood had left a large rust colored spot on his sheets, his foot was crusted over with blood, the glass still embedded in it. With a sigh Matthew numbly got out of bed slowly and limped to the bathroom. With some tweezers the glass was roughly taken out, then Matthew used some nearly boiling hot water to get the crusted blood off of the wound which was a sick looking red, and puffy to the touch. Washing it was a painful event but it had to be done, when it was over Matthew clumsily wrapped it up in gauze and hobbled back to bed, He didn't want to think anymore, he didn't want to process just yet what had happened, and so he didn't. Matthew fell asleep almost immediately.

The next time he woke up was due to loud talking beside his bed, the language was odd. Not French, not English, not even Spanish, it was unlike anything that he had ever heard before. With some effort Matthew managed to force his eyes open, his cheeks burnt like brands against the pillow, his stomach felt like lead and he was sticky with sweat.

"Ah, he's awake!"

There was a reply in the language that he didn't understand as he forced his head to turn, it was like a twelve pound weight as it moved.

"Matthew, your foot is infected and you must feel terrible but you need to get up, you need medicine to fight it."

Matthew managed a small mumble, why should he move out of the bed when everyone else was moving in a swirl around him? If Francis wanted him to meet him then why didn't the ghost stop _moving_ around so much?!

"...We are going to have to wake him up somehow but I can't get angry again, not after last night!"

At the mention of last night it felt as if a bucket of cold water had hit Matthew in the face, everything came back to him. The broken vase, the blood that dripped from his foot and then his mother leaving him in a haste to get away from Francis, and him. The shock was enough to send Matthew sitting upward, if his moving up avoided another repeat of last night then he would do so, even if now he felt as if he would be sick at any second.

"Ah Matthew, sit there for a moment, don't move too much now! You did such a good job."

Through the haze in his feverish mind Matthew saw Francis looking worriedly at him while standing next to a tanned man with sleek, jet black hair in an outfit that he recognized from one of his history books. From what Matthew could see with his blurred vision, he saw intricate beading on several parts of the outfit, the man wore a mask with a curved smile that was actually a little frightening to his sick mind and the man had a bunch of real herbs in his hands. Despite all this he was transparent just like Francis. Matthew recognized the man as a _Shaman_ ,a Native American medicine man...What he was doing in his room he had no idea...Was it his foot?...Matthew realized that must have been why the man was there, his thoughts were sluggish to catch up to the facts.

Matthew didn't have long to ponder this new stupidity before the man was crouching down to inspect his foot, talking to Francis in that same language that made no sense to Matthew's ears. The man seemed to be asking questions of Francis, to which he answered in that same language, even though it sounded a bit different from the man with jet black hair, a little slower and sloppy. The man sprinkled some dark herbs onto his foot, then gave Matthew a bunch of green leafy herbs to chew, making motions so that Matthew knew that he had to eat _all_ of it. The herbs were bitter to the taste making him want to gag, but one unexpected side effect was that the taste was horrible enough to make him wake up fully.

" _What_ is this?"

"It is medicine that is going to help you, now you need to eat _all_ of it Matthew."

The man regarded Matthew's foot carefully, then got some more herbs from the beaded bag that was oddly familiar to him somehow, grinding them into a fine paste and carefully spreading the green goop onto Matthew's sore. At first the mixture stung, then the pain began to slowly ease away as he finished off eating the horrid herbs that he had been handed. With this the man exchanged words with Francis, nodded to Matthew and then vanished quickly.

"...Who was he?!"

"That was one of my friends from when I was alive, he traveled with us as we fought, he's the best medicine man I have ever met in these few hundred years!"

"So he is dead but...How can he touch the herbs…..Was he...Was he mad?"

"No no no Matthew, nothing like that! In his life he talked to the spirits to help him heal us, so I suppose now that he is dead he can interact with humans."

Francis shrugged, floating an inch off of a chair as he glanced over at Matthews foot.

"The important thing is that he was able to help you….How do you feel about...Everything?"

How did he feel? Well obviously he was terrified, he _should_ be after what happened with Francis's outburst, but then another part of him didn't want to be scared of what happened last night because now here was Francis, having dragged one of his friends out of the grave just to help him. Matthew had to answer truthfully.

"I don't know how I feel."

Francis sank a little into the chair, nodding anyway.

"That is only fair, I didn't mean to ever let you see me like that...No one has seen me like that since the week after I died…"

Francis sighed, sinking a bit more into his chair but continued on with his tale.

"The last time I got that mad was when I got home to find an empty house, I was dead by that point but hoping to see my wife at least...The house was empty and ransacked, blood was….I don't know who did it...It was wartime, it could have been the British, normal thieves, even possibly a bear, I don't know but the fact was that my wife was gone...I couldn't even find her spirit, or her body...So I found the first British camp I could find...I don't remember what happened next."

By this point Francis had sank almost to the floor and Matthew was too stunned to tell him this.

"All I heard about was the aftermath….A whole camp destroyed through unknown forces…An entire camp of men, there were rumors that the river carried the bodies away there was blood so much blood as those young men they-"

Francis stopped to catch his breath before it ran ragged, taking a few seconds to calm down before continuing.

"That's why I never got mad again, until last night. They didn't deserve that ending, they did nothing wrong, they were just here. British, French, colonist, none of that mattered but I didn't see that…"

Francis was speaking from under the chair now, it was like he didn't even notice how far he was now, Matthew finally found his voice and spoke up, eager to get away from the topic of massacres.

"...But if your wife died, why couldn't you find her?"

"I don't know, I suppose that's why I'm sticking around for so long now...I keep on looking for her but I can never seem to find her, no matter how far I walk...I even went all the way to her childhood home to see if her spirit was trapped there but the only ghost's there were from the 1600's and none of them had seen a woman that looked like my wife, so I came back here…"

Francis finally started to rise back up to the seat, just before his torso could sink into the floor below him.

"...I'm sorry that you can't find your wife."

"Thank you Matthew...I am too. She's gone on without me, she must have but...The question is….What if she's still here?...I can't leave until I know for sure."

The two remained silent for a moment until Matthew spoke up quietly.

"I don't think my mom's going to come back either….I don't really want to find her... But...I need her, how else am I going to live?"

"It's only fair that I stay around all the time now, I got you into this mess and so now I will have to fix this...I'll be your guardian from now on Matthew.. I'll be more than I was before."

Matthew nodded silently, thinking. He was used to having to fend for himself, he even bought groceries once before, but how was he supposed to get the money for that sort of thing, it wasn't like he could work.

"How am I going to get food?"

"Don't you worry about that Matthew, I will find a way...You need to rest so your foot can heal."

It was either sleep or worry about his impending starvation, and so Matthew choose to do the earlier option, it was a bit more pleasant. However it was obvious to him as he laid down that Francis was going to do his best to help him, and if he was honest, only getting mad twice in a few hundred years was pretty good for a man who had his house taken over by humans a lot...Also, Francis only got mad for _his_ sake, to try and protect him, no one had ever cared that much for him...Matthew decided to trust him after a while of debating himself, even though he was worried about how Francis's plan to be his guardian was actually going to work out. With all these thoughts running through his head Matthew finally drifted off to sleep.

When he awoke next Francis was there, urging him out of bed so he could go eat. Matthew did this as the swelling had gone down enough that he could move to wash his foot again, the shaman had left behind some herbs for him which he took bitterly. The next few days passed like that, he was allowed to skip school since it was such a big deal, besides they had work to do to make Francis his guardian. In that time at home Matthew learned how to forage Francis's signature, they made up some documents that looked official enough to pass for real legal adoption papers and with a fake signature Francis was made Matthew's guardian.

As the week emptied out, so did the fridge. There hadn't really been that much in there in the first place but now there really wasn't that much to eat, all that was left was some bread and mustard, certainly not the most appealing of sandwiches. Just as Matthew was about to force himself to eat that mess of a lunch, Francis appeared all excited, he almost floated a foot off of the ground.

"Matthew, i've found just who we need to talk to! Come on now, _vite vite_!"  
While his foot was still a little tender to the touch it only took an extra sock for it to not hurt so bad that he couldn't walk. Matthew put on a few extra pairs, since he didn't know how far they would be walking and joined him outside in the frigid woods behind his house. Armed with a shovel they trekked out into the woods, just as the sun was setting they passed by the river and waded into the marshes surrounded it, Matthew just counted himself lucky that he had the foresight to wear his rain boots.

"Where are we going?"

Francis smiled as he hurried ahead of him, it was hard for Matthew to keep up with him since he actually had to _walk_ through all the mud and grass, and carry a shovel, _plus_ a flashlight,all in the _dark_.

"Well Matthew when I was in the army I heard about this man under General Wolfe, his name was Montcalm. He was supposed to have buried a treasure out here somewhere in the marshes, just outside of the city! Now of course at the time I thought that was all a bunch of _mer-_ ahem _,_ excuse me, a bunch of lies but now that I've _talked_ to him I think that I can convince him to tell us where he buried it!"

In his excitement Francis had gotten far ahead and Matthew had to almost run in order to just catch up, all the while though he was amazed. Montcalm's treasure was a subject of gossips for the older middle schoolers who were obsessed with money, but most people said it was just a hoax. They trekked on through the night, the excitement of a real treasure hunt kept Matthew's pace quick until finally they arrived at a large maple tree that stood out from the rest.

"This is our meeting place!...He said that he would already be here…."

Francis frowned, looking around the tree and finally peered _into_ the tree, his entire front half of his body was sunken into the tree.

"Ah there you are Louis! Come on out now!"

A gruff sounding man with a thick French accent answered him, Matthew backed up a bit in case he decided to come out, a bird tweeted angrily at him for disturbing it's sleep before flying away disgruntled now.

" _Non_ , you dragged me all the way out here from my grave in _the Plains of Abraham_ , which by the way is highly prestigious and someone could steal my _spot_ , and now you're addressing me in _English_ and asking me to come out from the tree where someone could shoot me in the back of the neck _again!"_

"Oh come now Loius, don't be a scaredy-cat, you're _dead_ , no one can shoot you now!"

"I don't care, I am not coming out just for you to steal my treasure!"

"Is that what this is all about?! If you didn't want me to "steal your treasure" then why did you come in the first place?!...Plus what are you going to do with it anyway?!"

The other voice paused, as if he didn't know just what he _would_ do with the treasure now that he was dead.

"Well….I could spend it...And besides it's what keeps me tethered here!"

"Then _why_ did you leave your grave, hmm?"

"...Alright so I was bored and if I didn't leave then ole' Wolfe would have subjected me to another one of his wartime stories and i've been through _hundreds of years_ worth of those! So excuse me if I wanted to get away for a bit!...But you still can't have my treasure!"

Francis grunted and finally with a mighty heave Matthew saw the man get pulled out of the tree, Francis dragging Louis by his collar.

"Look at who needs your treasure Louis, now don't be stingy!"

The pale ghost with a white powdered wig looked down at Matthew for a moment, a bit confused. Finally he whispered to Francis.  
"...Francis it seems like that little human boy is looking at us….It's freaking me out a little..."

Francis tried to whack the man's head but his hand went straight through.

"Of course he can see us, this is _Matthew_!"

"Ohhhh _oui, oui_ , I see! I assume he is the reason for our _English_?"

Everytime he said English he spoke it like a curse word, Louis regarded Matthew with curiosity but he also seemed nice enough. Matthew couldn't blame him for being curious, it must have a shock for a ghost to be seen by a human, Matthew himself didn't understand it either.

"Yes but I am teaching him French right now...But none of that will matter if he dies from starvation!"

"Oh now don't be so overdramatic Francis, he won't _starve!"_

"Yes he will, unless you have forgotten humans need _food_ which takes _money_!"

"They do?...Hmm I forgot about that…Humans are rather odd, don't you think?"

If Francis could have facepalmed it looked like he certainly would have.

"... _Vous avez nul pour cerveaux…_ This is why you need to not be so _lazy_ and leave your grave more than _once_ a decade!"

"Now there's no need to be rude Francis! I know you're worried about the boy but i'm sure his parents will feed him."

"He has no parents."

Louis seemed to be a bit surprised by this and regarded Matthew oddly.  
"No that's something that I _definitely_ remember from being alive, you have to have parents for there to be a baby."

"Of course you remember _that_ ….But no, his mother ran out on him and he has no other family members….Look at him Louis."

As if for the first time the ghost looked him over, and for the first time Matthew was self conscious of his scraggly frame.

"Ah yes I see…. _Le pauvre…._ Fine, fine, I suppose it would be truly evil to let a child starve...You better hope I end up in Heaven when I disappear Francis...Oh well I'll at least get out of my nightly chats with Ole Wolfe...Poor man will have to find a new victim for his wartime chats….Come along you two."

Louis struck out at a brisk pace ahead of them, Francis took the chance to shoot Matthew a quick smile and a thumbs up before following Louis, chatting with him in French for a bit. From what Matthew could understand Louis was chatting about the war, seemed like General Wolfe wasn't the only one bad for talking about his wartime victories.

The trio finally found a small patch of land in the middle of the murky marsh and Matthew was directed to start to dig, the two men looking on and giving helpful advice such as "just a little deeper!"

The "just a little deeper" took an hour and the land was empty, Francis turned slowly to Louis as Matthew plopped down exhausted. The lure of treasure had been keeping him going for a while but now he'd be happy to just find a bottle of water.  
"...You know, perhaps it was over there…."

Matthew groaned, Francis looked ready to choke Louis whom at least the the decency to look sheepish.

"It _has_ been a few hundred years, just give me a moment!"

Francis held down his hands, obviously restraining himself from choking the dead man and sat down beside Matthew as Louis wandered around the marsh, muttering and countings steps in the chilly night, luckily for them it was a full moon so they could at least see somewhat. The land around them all looked the same, wetlands with chest high grass for Matthew,(it was only waist high for the men) and a few odd trees here and there that held birds that screeched in the night.

"Three steps to the left...take it back now….Then to the right…"

As Louis wandered around in circles around the patch of land Matthew looked at Francis, his knees tucked up to his chest.

"...Are we lost?"

"Eh?...Ah no we are…..Well we know where the north star is Matthew and that is the most important thing!"

"So we're lost."

"...Oui, we are….But on the bright side, we found some land to sit on for the night!"

 _Somehow_ that didn't encourage him really, and so Matthew sat down and curled his legs around his chest. Now that he wasn't digging he could feel his stomach growling, it was starting to get a little painful. The two sat down on the cold ground for what seemed like forever, Matthews stomach growling and Francis staring at the blundering Louis.  
At some point in the night Matthew fell asleep, he was exhausted from digging a huge hole and just from having to listen to Louis chattering on about "Oh i've _almost_ remembered where it is!" When he woke up the sun was shining and he was alone.

"...Eh?... ?...Francis?!"  
"Sorry, sorry _mon petit!_ We finally found the treasure!"

The two appeared finally, Louis walking sheepishly as Francis stared at him, arms crossed and looked peeved.  
"Ah _oui_ , turns out that after _so many years_ I forgot that the treasure was buried to the _left_ of our tree here and not the right…..My bad, easy mistake!"  
"Mhm easy mistake, was it an easy mistake when your mother dropped you on your head as a baby?!"

"You know Francis for a man that's had all the time in the world to relax you're very uptight."

Francis muttered under his breath a word that Matthew probably wasn't supposed to learn in French yet and without another minute wasted the three of them went out to the _left_ of the tree. The area was just beyond a small bush and there Matthew began to dig in the exactly correct spot, apparently Louis had sunken into the ground to check, why he didn't do that _before_ was beyond Matthew. After only thirty minutes of digging Matthew got to the bottom of the hole and his shovel hit onto soft rotted wood that was dark from age.

"I-I think that I found it!"

"That is wonderful Matthew, get it up here!""

Matthew lugged (more like awkwardly pushed) out a small chest, then another, and then finally a third.

"They're so _heavy_!"

"Well they are filled with treasure! Now come on out!"

Matthew crawled out of the hole, utterly filthy with dirt but finally grinning.  
"Louis, seems like you _finally_ did something right _mon ami!_ Where's the keys?"

"The key? Ah yes, the key is buried exactly twenty miles from here, under a large maple oak in the middle of-"

"Matthew, smash the chest's"

"Ok!"

Much to Louis's dismay and shock Matthew clumsily slammed his heavy shovel into the chests, the wood was so far gone that it only took a few hits for each one for the insides to be exposed.

"Whoa…."

Matthew knelt down and peered into the first chest, inside there were mounds of gold coins, rings with precious stones, brooches that must have been made out of ivory and even a few pearl necklaces that shimmered in the early morning light.

"...It's just like the movies….There's so much in here!"

"Well it's not called a treasure for no reason….Take good care of it."

Matthew looked up to see Louis slowly fading away, all the while grinning to Francis. Matthew had been ogling over the man's treasure and he didn't even notice when the owner was already half gone until he spoke.

"You're a beautiful jerk Francis, keep up the good work…..Keep Wolfe company eh, the "old coot" needs someone to chat with."

With that Louis Montcalm was gone, and Matthew was left with his famous treasure.

"...I thought General Wolfe was only in his thirties when he died, that's not old…"

"Oh, it's a running joke Matthew…."

"Oh…."

Matthew looked down at the treasure and realized how quiet it had gotten, his eyes tearing up suddenly, Matthew didn't even have the chance to thank Montcalm for saving his life.  
"Don't worry about him Matthew, anyone who has been through talking to _Wolfe_ for hundreds of years deserves the best in the afterlife….He'll be fine, don't worry."

Matthew muttered a wish for Montcalm to be happy wherever he ended up, and with Francis he spent till lunchtime making a sled out of branches and lugging his new inheritance home.

.


	3. Chapter 3

_Matthew entered his dorm and began to unpack his bags and boxes of memories, plus the essentials (he could hardly say that he was emotionally attached to his underwear after all). His roommate had already been in there from look of the claimed bed that already had posters surrounding it. Down the hall he could hear others unpacking and being rather loud at that, while here he was unpacking silently and alone. That was fine however, they had talked it over and there was no way for Francis to come along, even though in the past they had done something that might have almost worked for this kind of situation._

It only took a matter of a few weeks for Matthew to be able to know pretty much everything he needed to survive, under Francis's guidance of course. Matthew truly was doing everything around the house (that wasn't really anything new), although he did have to learn how to pay taxes now, _apparently_ the government didn't care that his guardian had not held a job in a few hundred years. Despite this irritation he kept all the records neat and tidy to avoid anyone looking around their home, as for the treasure he was careful to sell pieces off one at a time in order to not appear suspicious….Well the least suspicious a six year old selling antique jewelry could be at any rate, but he soon found that if he went into the shops that were in the alleyway it meant that they probably wouldn't argue with the source of the money.

Now that his home life was somewhat calm Matthew could focus on other things, such as his school work, or what shred remained of it anyway. Before he hadn't really given it much thought, how _could_ he when he was worried about food at home or how much he was going to have to clean that day when he got back home? But now that it was just him and Francis, he had the perfect tutor to make sure he was ready for school when the winter break finally ended, which was fast approaching.

"Matthew? Where is your latest report card?"

Francis's voice broke through the small house just as Matthew was finishing up his lunch. Instantly his stomach curled in on itself s he set aside the last of the crust from his peanut butter and maple syrup sandwich that Francis had claimed he could not watch the young boy eat.

"...I don't have it….My mom had it in her records…"

That was a lie obviously, his report card was under his bed with all of his other important papers, he had to take care of them himself so that his mother wouldn't see them and promptly get rid of them, as she typically did. Francis appeared then, Matthew hastily looking down at his lap, his hands shaking under the table, he had been dreading this moment for a while now.

"Matthew where are they? We both know your mother wouldn't have those…."

Matthew felt a presence beside him in the other chair but he didn't look up.

"...They're not very good…."

"That's fine _mon petit_ , I just need to see them."

A lump formed in the back of Matthew's throat and his eyes burned, things had been going so well! He didn't want to be criticized for the idiot that he was by Francis too, he had enough of that from everyone else, _thank you very much!_

"...I think that I lost them…"

"Matthew please, just show them to me."

There was no way around this now...Francis wanted to see them and Matthew would have to go get them, now Francis would see how stupid he was and just like his mother he'd yell at him, calling him names and leave him a mess.

Ok, so he knew that Francis wouldn't _really_ do that, but it was hard to shrug off so easily what he had lived through for his short existence. After a few heart wrenching seconds Matthew hopped off of his seat, his legs threatening to buckle at any moment as he got the incriminating paper and came back to Francis, slowly setting it on the table so that the ghost could read. Time crept by slowly as Francis studied the paper with a somewhat shocked expression and finally Matthew couldn't take the tension anymore.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry they're so bad!"

Francis gave the list of F's and D's in the different subjects one last confused glance before turning to Matthew slowly.

"It says that your teacher can't get you to focus in class. We both know why that was but why were you so scared to show this to me?"

Matthew stared down at his lap, the reaction was not as horrible as the one he had imagined in his head, but he still felt sick to the stomach, certain that he was disappointing Francis, and that was worse than anything his mother could throw at him.

"When mom saw them she was drinking something….It made her mad, she threw it at me and...I don't remember what happened next."

"She hit you….How often did this happen?"

"Not too much! Only when mom drank and we couldn't afford that very much. So the only one I really remember is when she saw my report card…."

"I see…"

Francis pursed his lips, a sure sign that he was both thinking but also upset, as for Matthew even just talking about that incident made his nerves feel like they had been steamrolled.

"...I suppose there's not much to do now, I already scared her half to death last time….There won't be a second time of that…..Now I suppose all there is left to do is to fix her mistakes and your report card….Let's get started on that, shall we?"

Finally Francis flashed him a tense smile and with that Matthew nodded numbly, the knot in his stomach just starting to subside and loosen itself. At least Francis wasn't going to go berserk again and hunt down his mother.

"How…..How are we going to do that?"

"By getting you some tutoring from someone who is _actually_ competent!...Plus...We did make Montcalm a promise…. _Allons-y."_

Matthew took a few seconds to let his legs steady themselves after such a self-induced stressful moment before joining Francis. They gathered some slightly suspicious supplies and together they walked/floated to the Plains of Abraham in the city. Montreal's battle site wasn't busy that day probably since not many tourists were that interested in the Sevens years war, much less on such a cold snowy day. Tourists were always so finicky about Canadian weather...Oh well, it only mean that it was easier for the two to get into the battleground and find the small graveyard located there.

The "graveyard" was actually a small white building with columns that housed the remains of some of the soldiers, Francis went straight inside it's wall and then poked his head out happily.

"Ah, they're all here! Come on in Matthew, pick the lock like how I taught you!"

Armed with a small bobby pin and a bright light from his sack of suspicious supplies Matthew easily picked the ancient lock, letting it slide off silently before joining Francis inside the mausoleum.

"That was even quicker than last time, you are getting good at this Matthew!"

There was a draft inside that made his hair stand on edge,and just when Matthew thought that his legs were done shaking the tremors came back as he joined Francis in the middle of the dim room, despite the fact that he lived with a ghost, this dark, musty and damp crypt gave him the creeps.

"Oh come now Matthew, don't tell me that you're scared of ghosts!"

"No-No i'm not!"

Even so Matthew stood close to him as Francis cleared his throat, trying to hide his chuckle.  
"Alright, that is well enough all of you, he is fine. Matthew is not going to tell anyone, come on out now...Slowly, _d'accord?_ "

The room was silent for a moment until a soft voice that was almost a whisper spoke up, Matthew could hardly understand him through the French accent.

"How do we know that, _hmm?"_

"Because I told you that he's safe, and he is a little boy! What are you all,cowards? Too scared of a little boy? It's almost like you're all acting….. _British_ "

Well that certainly got them out...After the word "coward" and "British" echoed through the crypt, a large group of ghosts slid out of coffins, gripping and complaining about his cruel use of words, which made no sense to Matthew, since when was being British an insult? He supposed since someone served in the Sevens Years war.

Matthew could only stare at the whole troop of ghosts as Francis stood beside him, a self satisfied smirk on his face as he readily accepted all the gripes from the see through soldiers around them. The ghosts were all dressed in their whites and blue uniforms, some of them that should have been a pristine white were a bit….Stained though. They all had various injuries that had apparently caused their deaths, from gunshot wounds, to soldiers riddled with smallpox boils, even up to amputations that appeared a tad...Infected. One poor soldier was even holding his own head like it was the most normal thing in the world. Eventually the room quieted down as one man got over his gripes and asked a question loudly of Francis and Matthew. The man had to bang a ghostly musket on the crypts wall for silence, and even though it made no sound the other ghosts complied with this symbol.

"Where is Montcalm? None of us have seen him since you asked him to go with you…."

At that the last of the gripes were abruptly ceased as they all stared to Francis for his answer. Francie glanced around, paused for dramatic effect like he had told Matthew in one of his lessons on public speaking, and then finally announced his breaking news.

"Montcalm…..Has gone on!"

For a group of ghosts that wished to remain secret, they were not very good at remaining silent for as soon as the news was spoken the entire crypt erupted into joyous laughter, each of them slapping the other on the back, hands going through the other in a flash. The ghost that was holding his head dropped it, the head wavered in the air until the body picked it up again, but even then the man was laughing for joy. It almost made the dank, musty and damp crypt less creepy.

"He finally gave up on that dang treasure?!"

"He's moved on!"

"He's found peace!"

The merriment continued for a while, all of the soldiers pressing the two for details on just how it happened, if he seemed truly happy going on, where his treasure was and everything from there on. Once the chaos had subsided (somewhat) a larger ghost went up to the front.

"So, he has truly moved on then?"

The ghost looked a bit upset for a while and since his uniform was a tad different than the rest, much grander, Matthew knew that it must be General Wolfe that was so concerned.

"Yes….But we're here to talk to you !"

Wolfe looked down at Matthew from his perch on a coffin and at his words seemed to brighten up somewhat, even floating down gracefully to stand before Matthew.  
"Ah, you are? Well….Who am I to be moping when I should be talking to such a polite young man! You know it is so hard to find anyone that will chat with me!"

Beside him Francis secretly grimaced for a split second as other ghostly soldiers quickly excused themselves, making up excuses of having to check their coffins and whatnot. Within five seconds the whole crypt had evacuated except for the General and his unfortunate captive audience.

"Now, if I am to be talking to you from now on then I suppose that you should know more about me! I was born…"

For the next ten minutes Matthew attempted to pay attention to Wolfe's droning about his life, it was….It was horrible, he couldn't focus for more than a _second_! The man just kept on droning on and on, talking about even the slightest detail that mattered absolutely _nothing_! As he sat through this torture Matthew noticed Francis's eye twitching, he was suddenly reminded of the adults from the Peanuts cartoons, where the trumpet was used for any talking. All it was was just endless " _wahh wahh wahh wahh wahhhhh."_

Finally just when General Wolfe got to the story of his tenth birthday party Francis somehow managed to cut through the narration with a brisk, but somewhat strained voice.

"Actually….Thank you for that Wolfe but Matthew here has a strict bedtime and he needs some tutoring before we go home so..."

"Hmm? Oh yes, yes of course! How may I assist you? There is always time for my stories next time!"

"As I said Matthew here needs some tutoring, do you happen to know of anyone who is good at math, reading, science, history...Anything?"

General Wolfe took a pause at that, thinking deeply, giving Matthews ears a much needed rest.

"Hmm…..you need to try a newer graveyard for math and science help, i'm afraid that any of our knowledge would be...A _bit_ outdated, to say the least. As for history there are many men here who can help with that, but only up to a point obviously. Now grammar and reading, why that's easy! At least language never changes!"

"Ahem...Yes well any help that you could give would be fantastic."

"Of course, now I can assist in grammar and history, then you'll have to move graveyards for the rest."

With a jerk of the General's head Matthew was made to sit down on a nearby coffin and draw out some homework that he had failed, grammar in particular. For once not talking about himself, Wolfe spent a good thirty minutes explaining what was wrong with Matthew's sentences and how to help that, when the General got stumped another ghost would pipe up with an idea on how to teach a subject, the cowards had all finally come back to join Matthew and Francis after abandoning them to Wolfe.

In this way Matthew was tutored in reading, grammar and even a little basic math since they all assumed that couldn't change _too_ much. For a group full of old ghosts they were all great at teaching the subjects that made him actually understand it for once. By the time they were heading home from a full evening of tutoring Matthews head swam with information, but somehow in a good way. Never before had he been treated like this, he tried to not attract too much attention in class and so the teacher assumed that he just didn't care, then he was much too shy to talk to her about his issues when she made it obvious that _she_ didn't care if he "didn't want to put any effort into school." So the cycle continued endlessly, but now it seemed that Francis had put a stop to it.

Matthew trudged up the steps to his house, his legs weary from the trek but his mouth grinning widely, so much so that it hurt. When Francis saw what he was doing he chuckled softly, floating pleasantly above the ground.

"I have never seen anyone be so happy to go to a tutoring session."

"Well they were all really nice! They didn't treat me like I was stupid, and remember, John said that next week they're going to teach me _tavern_ songs!"

For some odd reason Francis grimaced at that.

"Err…. _Oui_...Next week Matthew, do me a favor and if they start to sing _odd_ songs, just cover your ears…"

"...What qualifies as odd, because they said they know an Irish one about a drunken sailor…"

"...That songs qualifies Matthew."

"Oh…"

Matthew made a quick mental note to not hum that newly learned song (John had snuck it into his lesson when Francis wasn't looking), in front of Francis and headed off to his room, Francis sending him off with good wishes as usual.

"Good night _mon petit!"_

"Good night papa!"

The word simply slipped out and Matthew continued on to his room, if he had only looked behind him he would have seen a very shocked Francis floating a few feet off of the ground in his utter joy.

The last week before school was much of the same oddness. Matthew was tutored by the ghosts in the Plains Graveyard but also by some in a few newer graveyards (they had found a recently deceased science teacher that adored getting to continue his job), so before he knew it he went from having one family member out of Francis, to suddenly having a whole graveyard of them! (Plus a few others scattered across the city's other graveyards. Especially the elderly science teacher!) Against Francis's wishes the soldiers taught Matthew more than just basic math and science, he learned history through their somewhat graphic war stories, and learned more and more of those drunken tavern songs that Matthew _really_ wasn't supposed to know. (He never did have the heart to tell Francis that he knew every word to " _Drunken Sailor"_ by their third visit to the graveyard, but what could he say, it was catchy!)

By the end of the week of intensive study Matthew truly thought that he was ready for school and for once in his life was actually looking forward to showing off all that he had learned. He arrived into the classroom that morning and got seated at the back of the class, aligning his pencil on his desk just so. He excitedly waited for class to start, the teacher put the first spelling word on the board and like a switch in his brain everything became the same as always, the word on the board made no sense and he couldn't even tell what the numbers were trying to do when they did math later! The numbers just mixed up in his brain the longer that he stared at them to try and sort them out. The teacher called on him for the math question that he was struggling to even read, much less solve, so when he could hardly stutter out one word she cut him off briskly and moved on to the next student, he could never win it seemed. Instead of a glorious day at school like he had imagined everything was so crushingly _normal._

The walk from the bus to his house seemed more like a heavy trudge as he knew he had to go tell Francis what had happened, that all of his, the teachers, and the soldiers work was wasted on him. He didn't understand just what was wrong with him, why couldn't he do anything right?! The worst part was that Francis was waiting to see him on the front stoop, waving excitedly as he stood several feet off of the ground, following him in as Matthew laid his bag beside the door with a sharp _thunk_.

"How was school today _mon petit?_ "

"...I'm going to get a snack, ok papa?"

For a split second Francis appeared confused but soon recovered, chuckling at something that he apparently found funny.

"Ah I see, making me wait in suspense to see how good you were! Now Matthew, you know better than to be that cruel to your papa!"

"I'm not…"

Matthew fought back the weight on his chest as he trudged to the kitchen, grabbing an apple that he didn't even have the heart to eat.

"Matthew….It didn't go well today, did it?"

With his face turned to the ground Matthew shook his head, in that position he watched Francis's feet float back down to earth.

"Now why...How could that be? You were doing so well in the tutoring sessions!"

"I don't know I just get so nervous that I can't speak, and then the math makes no sense to me on the board, and the words just don't make sense either and-"

"Wait, Matthew...How old are your glasses?"

Matthew looked up, he hadn't really thought about his glasses, they were just a normal part of life and he really didn't see what they had to do with him not being smart enough to understand basic math.

"I've had them for a while, they're hand me downs from my mom's friend little boy."

"...Your mother got you hand me down glasses?"

"Well they did help me see…"

"Alright, well let's see how good they are now, hmm?"

Leaving his apple abandoned on the table Matthew joined Francis in the living room where he wrote letters on a piece of paper in various sizes according to Francis's instructions and then placed them on the wall. Even though they had looked normal when he had written them as soon as he took a few steps back the letters blurred and wavered, mixing into each other just like the words on the board at school.

"...I can't see them!...But these glasses were supposed to be good!"

"Matthew let's just assume that everything your mother got you was horrible, _d'accord_?"

That was easy enough for him, as for now he was caught up in the realization that no, he wasn't an idiot, he just couldn't see! Although he did feel a bit silly for not realizing the issue sooner though...But that didn't matter right then because he wasn't an idiot! He knew the answers to what he saw in class, or at least he could once he actually got new glasses!

Now all that had to do was get new glasses, which meant going to a doctor's office...Without a physical guardian….Oh boy.

In the end the problem was a bit more complex than they had originally thought, after all it wasn't like Francis could just randomly appear in the eye doctor's office with his feet dangling three feet off of the ground! What he needed was a physical guardian, which they really just didn't have, so it seemed that they were stuck, but as always Francis was determined. (Or just stubborn….Probably it was mostly stubbornness.))  
"Matthew I will figure out a way for you to get new glasses, _d'accord?_ "

Matthew shrugged, his mouth full of the cheese sandwich he had made for dinner, it was the second day of them trying to figure this mess out, which also meant the second day of his humiliation at school. Joy….

"I want glasses too but I'm not sure how to do it…."

"That is why I am here, as soon as my stupid brain will start to work!"

Francis groaned in frustration, floating around the room as Matthew watched him go in circle after circle around the table, it made him a little dizzy to just watch it all.

"Could you possess someone maybe?"

At that Francis sharply halted, a hand laid dramatically over his heart.

"Matthew I am not a heathen!"

"Wait...Doe's that mean that you _could_?"

"I…..Well I think so, but to get back into a human form."

Francis shuddered as he finally sat down at the table, in his thoughtful mood he sunk into the chair's seat.

"It would be disgusting to feel all that heavy flesh again, not to mention the bad breath that most humans have! _Non,_ I don't think I could take it!...Besides I have never tried, I have only heard that idea from rumors and very mis-representing horror films!"

"You've never tried to before though?"

"...Matthew I think that is enough eighties horror films for you….Matthew? Did you hear what I said?..."

Matthew couldn't focus on anything he had to say after that, because this would solve _so_ many problems! Of course they couldn't do it forever, but he knew Francis wouldn't hurt anyone so why not give it a shot? Ok….So maybe he was being a little morbid, but what could he say, he had a ghost for a father.

"Think about it papa, this could really work! And we could pay them some treasure too!"

"Yes but i'm not sure that makes up for a ghost from the Sevens Years War possessing over your body and taking it for a...What's the word….Ah yes, a joy ride!"

"But it wouldn't be a joyride, it'd be helping me!...Please?"

That's all he really wanted, some help so that he could finally stop being the idiot in class that the teacher ignored. He just wanted to get the question right for once, was that really such much to ask for?

"I...Matthew….Alright, let me think about it, _d'accord_?"

"Yes papa!"

Over dinner Matthew kept on stealing quick glances and knew that Francis was mulling it over in his brain, thoughtfully "holding" his chin as he did so. Matthew was halfway through the dishes when Francis finally spoke up.

"I will do it, but we will have to be quick about the appointment, or as quick as one can be at the doctors….. But it will help you, and that is what is important."

Just the thought of sparklingly new glasses made Matthews smile widen until he thought that his mouth would pop.  
"Thank you papa, the appointment will be quick, I promise!"

"Well...We can hope I suppose…"

Arrangements were made for Matthew's appointment, with Francis talking into the phone while Matthew held it up to him, the insurance was paid with the help of a few gold coins and the matter was settled except for the person that Francis would possess. This was a lot trickier than they had originally thought it would be. It wasn't like he could just go up to just anyone and hop in! Francis had to pick someone that was near his age and looked at least somewhat close to Matthew, then they had to make sure it was someone that didn't appear to be busy, they had to be polite after all! Well at least as polite as they could be in this situation. From there Francis refused to pick anyone with a bad sense of fashion because he wanted to look presentable, even though it wasn't actually him. Matthew wasn't going to argue against that though, at least he was going through with this.  
"How about him papa?"

Matthew pointed at a businessman as he walked across the busy Montreal street outside of Matthews new eye doctor.  
"Matthew that man is carrying a Starbucks cup and has a comb-over, never trust anyone with a comb-over."

"Ok papa….."

They had been tucked away outside in the cold street alley for a solid hour and were in risk of him missing his appointment, plus pneumonia, when Francis finally drifted out of their hiding spot.  
"Wait...Perhaps….Yes!"

In a flash Francis was gone, leaving Matthew to scramble to his feet and look around for him again, he waited a few seconds and watched the people walk past him, wondering which one could be Francis now.

"Papa?"

"Ah, here!"

Matthew swiveled his head back and forth until he finally found the source of the voice and it was nothing like he had expected. The man that approached him did have blond hair that was shaved close to the head, but with Francis's stark blue eyes it made his whole appearance seem...Off. However he was at least somewhat well dressed in an olive green shirt and blue jeans. The issue was that he seemed a bit younger than Francis.

"What do you think Matthew?"

"I think that you're really young...he looks like a college student…"

" _Oui_ well some people have kids young Matthew and this is our best option, plus if anyone asks, I can say that I am your guardian, you start to cry something about how your parents died and they'll stop asking. Death makes humans so uncomfortable!"

The body that Francis was using shrugged slowly as if he wasn't used to it quite yet, but he had at least managed to walk over there so that was enough for Matthew.  
"Are you ready to go then?...Wait what was he doing?"

"Ah, he was taking a nap over in the park, it's a bit cold for that though…"

"Was he homeless?"

"...Ah yes, that must be it...Hmm, that explains the hunger...It's odd but familiar…"

Francis's new body was forced to frown as Matthews excitement dropped considerably.

"We will get him some food and some of the treasure, don't you worry Matthew, we can help him. Now then, we have your appointment!"

That was true enough, in just a few minutes they would be late and once they started to walk Francis was walking sluggishly, like he was being weighed down by the air itself.  
"Ugh, bodies are so heavy!"

They were so lucky that there was no one around to hear such a weird statement, however slowly but surely they rejoined the throng of normal people in front of their hiding spot and made it into the warm doctors office with exactly one minute to spare.

"Bonnefoy? Matthew Bonnefoy?"

"Here!"

The small group of waiting room people looked up as he walked over, his cheeks flushed at his own loudness.

"Ah there you are, and you must be !"

It took a second for Francis to reach the counter, to mask his sluggishness he had quickly adopted a limp.

"Ah yes, that is me! What do I need to sign?"

An utter avalanche of papers was pushed to him and they made their way to the corner, Matthew toting the papers out of habit.  
"I forgot how horrible paperwork was."

"We haven't even started papa."

" _Oui_...I know."

The smooth jazz of the doctors appointment agitated Matthews ear as Francis signed and filled out paperwork, muttering to himself as he did so.

"Allergies? _Non…_..Surgeries... _Non_...Drugs?! He's six! Why do they...Ugh….This is ridiculous, do they also want to know the name of my great-great grandmother just for good measure?!"

While Francis complained his way through the stack of papers Matthew picked up some small books, but all the ones they had were either too young for him or were adult magazines with articles on how to stay fit at the age of fifty. Just when he thought that he was going to die of boredom Francis tapped his shoulder.

"Ready?"

"Yes papa!"

"Good, this music is about to make my ears bleed."

With a slight shudder Francis led Matthew back to the front where the elderly receptionist looked over the paperwork, her eyebrows slanting upwards at Francis's signature, which was pretty much caligraphy.

"Well, everything is in order, you can go back to Dr Yeux's room now."

For some reason Francis snickered at the name but nodded, a smile finally back on his face after having to face down that mountain of paperwork.

" _Merci,_ let's go on in Matthew."

Here it was, finally he'd be getting new glasses! Matthew grinned wider than any other kid going to the doctor and even waved boldly to the receptionist before heading back to the dim room that they were directed to. Inside were some instruments that he hardly recognized, they were all so new to him, it was like stepping into a whole new world. The room was so pristine and clean that he didn't even have time to think about the fact that most kids would be nervous and that he should have been as well, instead he was calm.

Matthew went ahead after his initial gawking and sat down in the black lounge chair in the center and waited for his doctor. When he came in the doctor was a short man but had a kind smile so Matthew found it somewhat easy to talk to him.

From then on it was an endless pattern of "is this slide better or worse? How about now?" as numbers were rotated through a set of machinery that he looked through to see what prescription he needed. As it turned out, he was pretty blind. A full hour of this later and they were finally leaving the dark and clean room, Francis shuffling along in his sluggish gait.

"Well Matthew...What do you...Think?"

"I think it was fine, but are you ok papa?"

Francis was silent until they got back outside into the cold, his breath coming out as a thin fog as he panted softly. He looked much worse for wear, every part of him slumping over exhausted. Definitely worrying, he'd never slouch when other people could possible see him.

"Yes, but this body is heavy, I need to leave it soon. First though let's get him some food."

"I think I saw a deli nearby, maybe we can go there since it's close?"

"That sounds…. Good, let's….Go."

Even though they went slow by the time Francis got there he was out of breath, having to hang onto the door for support just to remain standing, a few people gave him some odd looks but went right on their way.

"Matthew you go….. In and buy the food….Please…. Be quick."

Matthew nodded, his face scrunched up in worry as he hurried to the counter and ordered a large sandwich, it felt like it took forever for it to come out. When his order came up he snatched it away, said a quiet thank you, and hurried outside with the food, he practically tossed it to Francis in is haste, Francis ate it slowly and sluggishly.

"Are you sure that you're ok papa?"

" _Oui_ , i'm fine...It's just...Holding onto this form is much harder than I thought that it would be...It's so heavy…"

"Can you make it back to the park?"

"...I will try…. If not, make sure this man... Is safe."

"I will papa!"

"That's….My boy."

Francis finished the last of his sandwich and then used Matthew's shoulder as support, instead of going to the park he directed them to go to the library where it would be warm, not to mention much closer to where they were. Together they made it to the end of the rows of nonfiction books, well tucked into the corner where no one but perhaps a random college student studying for finals would find them. Francis sat the body down heavily, almost looking like he had fainted and then quickly popped out of the body, still going through the motions of panting as he hovered in the air, the man was in a deep sleep and seemed to be in a much better shape than Francis. When his father came out he looked like mist, his form was so patchy and dim, looking like a single gust of wind could dissolve his form like dust.

"That was harder than I thought it would be!...What?"

"You're so dim!"

"Hmm?...Oh _oui_ , I am…..Don't worry Matthew, i'm sure that it's nothing, I will be fine."

"Are you sure?"

As soon as he hear the worry in Matthew's voice Francis smiled widely, waving his hand to show it was nothing.

" _Oui, oui,_ i'm sure of it! I am just tried, that is all! Let's just leave this man our gift and go home."

The sooner they did that the better in Matthew's opinion so he hastily slipped the envelope and card explaining that they were some "good samaritans" into the man's coat pocket before leaving with Francis. He walked briskly outside both to keep his legs warm but also to get Francis back home, he was hoping that somehow just being back home would stop the eerie dimness.

Despite his cheerful tone Francis lagged behind him and even _flickered_ at some points, only making Matthew walk all the more faster in order to get home. They made it there in record time, Matthew hurriedly shut the front door against the bitter cold wind.

"Are you feeling any better papa?"

"I'm….I'll be fine, now you be good and eat a good dinner, i'm going to go rest…"

Francis flickered some and was gone, giving Matthew a miniature heart attack.

"...Papa?"

There was no response and so Matthew tried to shake it off, chalking it up to Francis needing rest.

Even though he was a ghost.

Ok so he was scared now, no longer worried, he was _terrified_. There was nothing for him to do though but wait for Francis to show back up, and after such a fright from his mother when she left he really didn't need this new stress. For the next few hours he worked in the quiet house on his homework, cleaned up the house and ate a good dinner, as promised, but the more he did without Francis showing back up the more his heart started to clench from that sickening and heavy dread. He tried to not think about how his mother abandoned him, and how without Francis he would be alone, not to mention how Francis had flicked and faded like Montcalm….

The next day meant school but there was no way that he could go to sleep without knowing if his father was ok or not.

He had to go to the only source that he knew.

While he was getting used to walking around everywhere, he had not yet gone to the Plains of Abraham on his own, in the dark to boot, and so the trip took longer than it ever had before, making his hands frozen and stiff as he entered the familiar crypt. In his haste he had left his coat at home, a mistake he regretted now but there had been no time to turn back and get it.

"... ?...John?...Adam?"

Just when he was about to start knocking on a coffin to get them out the usual group of soldiers popped out and upon seeing who it was that disturbed their sleep they swarmed to him and he got scolded by so many people it was hard to keep count of who all was talking.

"What are you doing out this late at night?!"

"You should be asleep for school!"

"Did you walk here on your own?!"

"Where is your coat?!"

"Are you freezing lad?"

"Where's Francis?!"

Every time he tried to answer any of the questions that were hurled at him he just got interrupted by another worried question until a loud shout stopped the chaos, the voice hadn't even bothered to go through with the customary musket banging.

"QUIET!"

"...Thank you. Now Matthew, where is Francis? _Why_ did he let you come here alone?"

Matthew regarded General Wolfe who was looking quite pissed at the moment, probably at both him and Francis.

"He's gone! He….We had to go get me some new glasses because I can't see for class and so he had to possess a body and after he did that he started to flicker and now he's just gone!"

He knew he had to calm down now, lest he start bawling or worse and so Matthew took a deep breath and let it out again slowly as the soldiers talked amongst themselves, showing the anxiety that he himself felt.

"Are….Are you sure Matthew?"

"Mhm, i'm sure! He hasn't been home for hours!"

As he stood there waiting he shivered from the cold, although the crypt at least kept out the worst of the wind.

"I see….Matthew I will escort you home, you must be freezing by now!"

"No! I'm fine, I just want to make sure my papa will be ok."

"Matthew we are going to your home right now and I will have to talk to you on the way _there_ , come along lad."

With no other option than to follow, Matthew went back out into the freezing cold and joined Wolfe as they walked, the other ghosts talking rapidly to each other as they left. He heard one phrase frequently though, "new guardian."

The roads were still busy at this hour and so they took the lesser known small roads to avoid any questioning glances of as to why a kid was talking to himself.

"...Mr. Wolfe, is he going to be ok?"

"Thats...A very good question lad….Now I won't lie to you, I truly don't know...You're mature but still so young…"

He seemed to be talking to himself now as they walked to his house, he didn't notice that Matthew's throat was wavering from trying to force out the lump that had formed there.

"I have never really heard of a ghost doing this to a human, it's an extremely odd case...And if he was flickering as you said…"

He shrugged and walked on ahead, not noticing that Matthew had stopped.

"He might be gone."

At that Matthew finally just let the lump out of his throat, crying softly.

"But….He can't go! I need him! He's the only father i've ever had! I-I don't want to be alone again!"

"Ah! Now lad! Don't cry! Oh dear I forgot how easily upset human children are….Alright, now there could be some hope, after all, like I said no ghost has ever done this before so perhaps he really is alright! Chin up now!"

Those words held no comfort for him as he cried, walking faster to make it home before anyone else could see him crying. His legs and toes were numb but he forced them to go faster and faster, he only wanted to go home and crawl into a hole, under his blankets would suffice though, as long as everything else was blocked out.  
"Matthew, now hold on! It's ok, if anything happens i'll take care of you, you won't be alone!"

Matthew just sobbed harder at that, hurrying on even though the cold air burned his lungs. Wolfe finally shut his mouth and left him alone to cry as they walked back home.

"MATTHEW?! MATTHEW?!"

They were still a ways off from the house, he could just barely see it in the distance but that voice was supernatural in just how loud it was, how much it carried around the woods surrounding his house, and even though it was strained from utter panic Matthew knew exactly who it was.

"Papa?!"

As soon as he had said that word it took a mere second for Francis to appear, he made the move to hug him and went through him, leaving Matthew with the cold impression that was good enough for a hug, all he could think was that his father was _ok._

"Where were you?! I came back and you were just _gone_! What were you _thinking_?! You must be so cold! Have you been crying?"

"I-I thought that you had disappeared so I went to see if the soldiers knew anything about this and Wolfe said that you were probably gone!"

"...You told Matthew that I was probably gone?"

"Now Francis, it was a perfectly reasonable guess….I mean he did say that you had flickered…"

"Good night General Wolfe….But...Thank you for getting him back safely."

"Ah of course, you're welcome!...And err...Sorry for disturbing the little lad...Good night Matthew."

Within a flash Wolfe had made a hasty retreat back to his crypt and Francis had ushered him inside where the blessed warmth was there to greet him. He got right up to the air vent in the living room, with a blanket tucked snugly around him.

"Now Matthew, you are in a lot of trouble but for now, let me see your fingers and toes, you were out there for so long!"

Matthew complied and Francis checked, frowning at the slight purpleness in his fingertips.

"Warm them up next to the vent but don't get too close."

"Ok papa….How much trouble am I in?"

"Well let's see Matthew, you went to the graveyard without my permission, walking _alone_ in the cold in the middle of the city where any number of things could have happened to you! Did you consider how it would feel for me to wake up and find the door open, see your coat _still hanging on the rack,_ and not have any clue where you had gone to?! I was _terrified_ Matthew! I know you have to do a lot of things on your own but you are still a child and I...I am so disappointed in you!"

That stung worse than any punishment his mother could have given him and he worked hard to fight back new tears.

"I'm...I'm sorry papa...I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to disappoint you…"

He never was good at holding back the tears and honestly, his fingers were starting to go numb, he had been terrified and now he was a disappointment to his father. What a way to end a day.

"...Matthew, look at me."

Matthew did, brushing off tears quickly before he could even look up at Francis.

"I was so scared because you are my son, I love you and I was terrified that if you were hurt I wouldn't be there to help you. I'd do anything for you, you know that right?"

"...Yes papa."

"Good, now I think we both need to calm down and you need to get some sleep, you still have school tomorrow."

After assuring that his fingers and toes weren't going to fall off from frostbite Matthew went to bed, weary as he dimly saw Francis pacing the hallway outside of his room, letting out deep breathes that he could hear even when piled under blankets. After that it was dark.

 _After that he had gotten his glasses, having to sign the papers himself with the excuse that his father had worked the graveyard shift and was far too tired to actually sign them himself, the glasses were like a whole new world to him. With them, it felt like he could do anything, and he did._


	4. Chapter 4

_There's nothing like being utterly alone in a dorm room that makes you remember all the other times that you have felt lonely till it all snowballs within you. In short, the feeling sucks and wasn't something that he wanted to feel on the first day of moving into college. But, he was friends with loneliness it seemed, as it always came back to be with him._

With the new glasses, Matthew excelled in his classes, sure he wasn't the coolest kid in school for doing so but at least he could look at his father and the men in the crypt without feeling ashamed or stupid anymore. The day that he showed off his next report card just towards the beginning of spring, with its straight A's was the day that he needed new ears after all of the cheering.

"You did it lad, you did it!"

"Looks at those beautiful A's!"

"That's my boy!"

Finally Wolfe "banged" his rifle for silence and grinned to Matthew along with the rest of the soldiers, all floating far above Matthew's head and nearly touching the roof in their pride and joy.

"We are all so proud of you boy, we truly are. I only wish that we could do something to commemorate this moment…"

"Oh it's ok, . I have the report card itself and that's enough!"

Wolfe shrugged, a wider smile on his face than Matthew had ever seen on there before for such a composed, ...Outspoken man.

"I suppose you're right lad, I suppose you're right."

"Oh course he is right, now Matthew you must think about what you want to be when you grow up!"

When Matthew looked at his father he had the impression that he was merely joking, after all he was a bit young for planning this but...He wanted to think about it. No one had ever asked him that sort of question before and now that his grades were amazing he had been given such a confidence boost it felt like that was something he could actually think about for once. After all, he heard about all the other kids in his classrooms life goals, and they ranged from ballerina, to policewoman, to astronaut so why shouldn't he think about it as well?

"I want…..Well I like animals and….Well….Oh..."

"That's alright Matthew, I was merely joking. You have many years before you even have to start thinking about i-"

"Doctor!"

"Hmm?"

"I want to be a doctor, like the healer that healed my foot! Then I get to help people all the time and everyone will know I'm smart because doctors have to be really smart, right?"

"Oh well…. Yes, they do... I have no doubt that you can do it Matthew!"

When most parents said that about the outlandish dream of a child they didn't mean it, and anyone who knew Matthew would probably do the same thing. They'd look at his old report cards, his nervous manner and his "lack of parental guidance" and merely pat his head, give a small "kind" word and move on. That wasn't Francis though. Even though a six year old kid just told him that he wanted to be one of the hardest jobs in the world, he was willing to believe him. So, if Francis trusted him, why shouldn't others?

"Thank you papa! For everything."

"Thank me? Why Matthew there's nothing to thank me for."

Even though Francis laughed it off Matthew still meant it, and from then on, that was the start of it all. The start of him grabbing books on the human body, on medicine, on doctors and more. Of course, they were children's books but by the time he was enrolled in middle school he could name every single bone in the body, and knew facts about most of the organs of the body. He just soaked all of this knowledge in like a sponge. This of course didn't make him the most popular of kids as he first entered into his new school, the ever daunting middle school.

It was hard enough having to try and remember class schedules, new teachers names and the new route to school but to try and do that all while also trying to make friends? Impossible. So he didn't, after all he had plenty of time, didn't he? Why worry about such a problem when he had brand new books to read about the human body, or on new sciences used in the medical field, or even about charity organizations that could take him far away to work in a place that needed his help! Ok, so maybe he wasn't ready for that kind of thing yet and doubted that he ever would be, but it made for an interesting read at least.

Those books became an anchor of sorts, as he got a few weeks into middle school and it became apparent that he wasn't going to make any friends anytime soon, he began to bring in more and more books. He would have three of them at once stuffed into his book bag until it was bulging at the seams. One for just fun, one for learning and one for an emergency, in case he finished a book while he was away from home. Finally, just in case he ever got truly desperate he had his school textbooks on hand as well. With all of this he thought that he was well armed for the school days, and he was. He had all he needed, he had friends in the forms of book characters that he came to know through re-reading and re-reading books almost religiously. He became friends with Alice, the girl who fell down a rabbit hole into another world, White Fang, the wild half wolf turned pet and even Anne, the bright and lively girl from Green Gables whom he thought to be a _great_ representation for Canadian kids. With these friends he charged full force into his academics in school, paving the way through with straight A's and never once did he leave the honor roll.

That first year in middle school slipped by him so fast, that year he had read over forty classic books and that was how he tracked time. At the end of his first year of middle school he had read forty books, and he had a small printed paper diploma saying that he had been on the honor roll all year, and together these were what he had to show for his year. That surprised him a little, he thought that maybe he'd get one of the teachers' awards since after all he was a great student, but he shuffled up to the podium anyway with all the other A honor roll kids.

When his name was called for the honor roll diploma he got the social constraint clap. The clap that was there because that's what society expected of you and it would be looked down upon if you didn't do it, not anything real. As he sat back down at his chair in the large auditorium he turned to the person beside him and found that they were talking to someone beside them, when he turned the other way it was the same thing. For a moment in that huge building full of people he felt invisible, just... Swallowed up by the crowd.

That's when it all really clicked for him, the fact that he was, well, he was friendless at his school. The books had been a rather nice and drawn out distraction, but that's all that they were. They were just a distraction, a series of imaginary friends, like he was a kid again! What mattered right then was the people in the auditorium, the same people that he just knew that if he were to be sick one day no one would notice but the teacher when they called roll. No one would ask him the next day where he was, no one would grab his homework for him and no one would give him the notes that he had missed.

He knew for a fact that this was what would happen, because it had. He hadn't thought about it till now, but now that he was here, he might as well. He had missed a day of school recently for a slight stomach bug, nothing too major but the next day it was the same thing as always, no questions, not even any wondering looks. It was all just a normal routine. Of course he didn't expect a huge welcome back, or anything like that but a simple, "where were you yesterday?" would have been nice. That would have given him enough reason to negate all of these new thoughts now but since that didn't happen, here he was, stuck thinking about it. Didn't anyone notice? He was one of the smartest kids in his classes, so didn't _anyone_ , even the people that he knew were trying to cheat off of his paper every day notice?

He guessed that the answer for that question was a no, he had his notes and missing work given to him by the teachers, no questions were asked, no one looked his way, and no one seemed to notice that he had even been missing. That hurt.

By the end of the ceremony that day a heavy weight had come onto him, it pressed at his shoulders until they were drawn in and it forced his head down, eyes at the ground to hide any sort of pitiful face that might have escaped the teachers, or Francis's careful checks. This was such a weird feeling that he didn't know what to make of it at first. By the time he had made it back home that weight had gone through his entire body and struck at his heart, making it feel as if a hand was clenching it and clenching it even more every minute that passed by. It was the most miserable feeling he had ever experienced, nothing like sadness although that was the only name that he could give to it. It was more like the feeling of being slowly sucked away into the ground, no rope above to grab, nothing around his sides to grab at to hoist himself, just himself slowly sliding down and sinking. It was the closest to utter despair that he had ever been since that night his mother fled.

It didn't go away, and by the time he made it to his dim and dark house the feeling made it hard for him to not want to just curl up on the road and stay there for a while.

He had entered the house and even though he was lonely, even though it made no sense for him to not talk to Francis he just...Felt like he couldn't. Something held him back from talking to him and so when his father approached him, bubbling with exciting plans for the summer he muttered the few words needed and then left with the excuse of a headache caused by all the people in the gym. In order to get rid of that horrible feeling he tried the only thing that he could think of, and that was to cover himself in his blankets and lay in the bed. It had worked for him when he was a child, to just hide away from all of his worries, now he tried that old trick once again.

For the night at least, it worked. He couldn't feel that heavy weight as long as he wasn't awake to feel it and so that night he fell asleep earlier than he ever had before in his life. The next morning it was like a switch had been turned in him and that feeling was utterly gone, he was full of energy once more and it seemed as if life was back to normal, like what happened the day before was just some odd fluke. That morning he chatted with Francis about the day before, showed off his small awards and even made the time consuming, but ever so gratifying, homemade pancakes. This process took most of what was left of the morning, (he always slept in late) and by lunchtime he had finished with his house work for the day. This left him with an utterly free afternoon and with summer break here, there was so much to do! He could go down to the park, go shopping at the local bookstore, stay inside and read, watch TV, the possibilities were endless!

He had no idea what to do.

He tried to pick up a book and found that it held no interest for him, he flicked through channels on the TV and found nothing even remotely interesting, he went outside for a little hike but soon found himself right back inside. Usually a book always did the trick for him but that day he couldn't seem to want to, or even be able to focus on a book's pages. By the time night had rolled around he realized that he had spent the whole day milling around listlessly, not sure of what he wanted to do and barely talking to Francis in his meaningless wandering around the house. That night he found himself going to bed early again, out of mere boredom.

That was how he passed his first week of summer. The eight day into the dullness Francis had suggested that they go to the crypt to visit the others and Matthew soon found that his heart just wasn't in it, even when John tried to teach him a new tavern song the words just slipped right by him and he couldn't seem to focus on what had just been said to him. It was such an odd feeling of dazed and confused, like all there was to his life was the boredom, that was real and what he could see in front of him was not and did not even belong to the same realm.

It was weird.

At the start of the next week the boredom had gone away and with it the sinking, anxious feeling crept back in as he wondered if he could be rid of the boredom, of the emptiness. He was really starting to worry that things wouldn't be the same after this summer, two weeks was really a lot for this kind of feeling! His typical day was that he was bored in the morning, then anxious by night. He started to eat less than the usual junk food as he knew it was just a distraction from the boredom and tried to bury himself into the books but couldn't find a single one that held anything for him, none of them had answers for why he was feeling like this and so he gave up on that. With nothing else to do he spent his days staring at the roof of his bedroom.

By the end of the second week it felt like he was just sinking so fast now, that empty nothingness was just sucking him up faster and faster, not willing to leave anything of him left. Throughout all of this he knew Francis was getting worried for him but he just...Couldn't seem to talk about this, as if talking about it would only make him have to face it and admit that he had an issue that wasn't going away, and maybe never would, so he remained quiet.

That was how he passed his first month of summer, then his second. Francis would try to talk to him but he couldn't manage more than a few muttered responses and finding the energy to get out of the house was almost impossible, unthinkable really.

By the time that school rolled back around he was exhausted from having done nothing. But, perhaps school was just what he needed. After all a new year in school meant harder work, and probably more of it, so this was just what he needed. He need the hard work to keep him busy, to make sure his mind wouldn't wander back down.

At the start of the year he signed up for chess club, to be a library assistant and even started to work on a project that had only been rumors so far, all to increase his workload to the point where he could think of nothing else but the work. For the first week of school it even worked, all he could think about was his new hobbies, but slowly that started to lessen once again.

In the chess club he was accepted, if not talked to all the time at least they accepted him. That was a starting point at least. However, in hindsight he probably should have picked a better club as being on the chess club only cemented his weirdness for the rest of the students that happened to take notice in him, kind of like how people wanted to go to a haunted house. He went from being the quiet, shy, odd kid to being the quiet, shy, odd kid that played chess.

Great.

Not to mention that since he had hardly found the energy to get out of bed during the summer his face had gone from roughly average to a mess with acne as he hadn't washed his face in a while, so that was his state of being in his middle school experience.

It didn't take the other kids long to notice this state either, and it was so odd. In elementary school kids can be mean but never as cruel as they can be. But you place a bunch of sweaty, pimply people into a middle school and suddenly it's survival of the fittest where those on top crush the ones on the bottom in order to survive. Well Matthew was at the bottom of the heap, and he knew no amount of medical knowledge would impress anyone into letting him rise above his station. So when he began to be bullied it was hard to say that he was surprised, he had been expecting it for a while and was honestly more surprised that it took this long to become a target. While most kids would ask "why me?" or "what did I do wrong?" Matthew never did. He knew what he had done wrong, he had merely existed at the bottom of the heap, he had not changed himself in order to get to the top and so for this he deserved the "capital punishment" of middle school, which was having a bunch of idiot kids annoy him day in and day out.

That's how it started out anyway, it was more small annoyances than anything major. A cruel name here, whispers behind his back there, but as long as he could still pay attention to his teacher he didn't care. Of course this pissed his tormentors to no end, they just couldn't understand how Matthew didn't _care,_ as if them calling him "idiot", "zitface" or other incredibly "creative" names meant anything to him. So they had to amp it up it seemed, and that was when Matthew began to care. That's when he saw that they held more than just a little energy for hating him.

"Hey weird boy!"

Matthew looked up from his educational book, an incredibly interesting book about new research done into the sleep cycle. When he saw who it was he merely started to read his book again, this was his lunchtime and the library was his haven. While everyone else was in the loud, sweaty and crowded cafeteria he had gotten permission to eat in the library's back store room. Of course he did more reading than eating, but this was just how he liked it.

"Weird boy?..."

Matthew wasn't stupid enough to start a fight but he muttered a response under his breath.

" _That one must have taken you a week to think of."_

"Hey! I'm talking to you _idiot_."

Matthew kept his head down and tried to find his place back in the book, it was something about the deep sleep state…

"I _said_ I'm talking to _you asshole!"_

Matthews head was ripped up and banged against the wall behind him as the boy loomed over him. His head throbbed and felt heated where it banged against the wall and he grit his teeth, finally looking up at the boy in front of him.

"Hey! What did you do that for?!"

"You weren't paying attention and I need you to. You've been so _rude_ to my friends, talking behind our backs….Haven't you?"

"...Uh, no? I'm not the type to do that…."

Matthew bit his tongue to keep from letting out a " _unlike you_."

"Yeah you are, you talked about us behind our backs!"

"No I haven't, I don't do that kind of thing!"

It was at times like this that Matthew wished he could fit in better, at least to avoid this kind of idiotic interaction.

"Yeah you do, and I know you won't do it again."

That sounded slightly ominous and so Matthew gripped his book even tighter.

"...Yeah, I won't….Ok?"

The boy shrugged and like a flash he grabbed Matthew's book and held it firmly in his hand.

"Hey! That's mine! I payed for that!"

"Then you can pay for another."

With that he began to rip the pages out of it's spine, letting them fall onto the floor, his hand going faster and faster until it looked like it was snowing small paper shreds in the library.

"HEY, STOP IT!"

Matthew charged at the boy, grabbing at the book but to his shame he was easily shoved back and made to fall onto the concrete floor. A bookish member of the chess club just wasn't a match for a hockey player. In a matter of a minute his book was destroyed, the pages were laying on the floor and the spine was nothing but glue and spindly covers. All the time it took for that book to be printed, then carefully arranged and sewn together, just waiting for him to buy and read and now it only took the span of a sixty seconds for the book to be utterly destroyed right before his eyes. He could still see the pencil marks where he had taken notes on the now scraps of papers.

"Here."

The boy stepped deliberately on the pages, getting his dirty footprint on the clean white pages and tossed the cover to Matthew. With that he was gone.

Matthew looked around at the carnage around him and with a shaky hand he began to gather up the pages, he tried in vain to brush the dusty footprint off of the larger scraps but it only smeared the dirt more and so he left it as it was. Ever so carefully he gathered every single page and painstakingly began to sort them out, arranging them in their proper order. When he had done this he went, found a stapler and stapled the filthy and slightly crumbled pages back together, having to tape many back together, leaving the pages with large gashes where the words didn't exactly match up anymore. The bell for the next class rung and so he left quietly, shut the door and went on to his next class.

To think that it would be an isolated accident was to be as stupid as they thought he was, after that day the accidents like that only increased to the point where he had to stop taking books to school all together just to keep them safe from harm. Of course this came at the price of his wandering mind, he had nothing to read in his classes and so all he could do was stew and think about what they would do next to him, he felt like a hunted rabbit being tracked by hunters. His anxiety rose and rose, so that when they started to hit him when they no longer had his books to harm he would flinch before them and thus make himself the laughingstock. They were always careful to hit him in places where no one else would notice though, like push him so that he'd hit his side on a stairs railing or punch his sensitive shoulder blade. This made it hard for him because he had to start taking ice baths to keep the bruising at bay so no one would notice when he changed out for PE. Last thing he needed was a investigation into his school life, or worse, social services knocking at his door. He dreaded going to school, and yet he kept going with the reminder, his daily mantra of "it has to end one day."

It was in English class that his bullies messed up and pushed him into a door, where he got a bruise on his eye, his nose was a bit red and bruised as well when he went back to his house early, trying to make his way to his room as quickly as possible.

He had almost made it to the doorknob of his room when Francis popped up behind him, floating close to the ground.

"Matthew, wait I wanted to ask you how your day has been….Was it alright? I mean...Did you do anything fun today?...You're home early."

His voice sounded desperate and so Matthew felt even worse when he scrunched up his shoulders and shook his head, facing intently into the door.

"...No I...I don't really do that much at all today...I won a game of chess. I just felt sick…."

He knew that his father was looking for any scrap of information and so he usually gave him these small tidbits to make him get off of his back.

"Ah did you, that's wonderful! The chess game I mean!...Was it against Jeremy again? I'm sure you've almost reached Tom's level by this point, hmm? Perhaps even better!"

"Not….Not quite."

"You mean not quite _yet,_ I am sure you will get to his level soon with how much you're practicing! It seems like that's all you do in school now…"

"It's….It's the only interesting thing papa, really."

"Of course...I suppose that you have another headache then? One that requires you to lock yourself away yet again...When's the last time we've talked for more than five minutes Matthew?"

He could only flinch before answering softly.

"...I...I'm just really tired…..It must be me growing…"

"No, this isn't that Matthew, don't…."

Francis sighed behind him and passed through him to be able to face him.

"It's no-...Matthew what happened to your _face_?!"

The bruise…..Matthew tried to hide his swollen purple eye and red nose behind his hand but it was too late.

"Nothing papa! I just got hit in PE, that's all….We were playing….I mean we were doing dodgeball and…."

"Matthew I somehow doubt that a small foam dodgeball could do this much damage! Can you even _see_ out of that eye?!"

"Yes papa I can see, it's just a little bruised is all, it doesn't even really hurt that bad!"

"That bad?! Matthew your eye is purple and _black_ , now tell me what happened!"

"I…..Ok so it sounds stupid but I fell into a door, I didn't want to tell you because it was so ridiculous of me."

"Matthew. Did you fall or where you _pushed_?"

There was no hesitation for him.

"I fell."

Francis's face contorted into frustration as he looked at him, his shoulders hunched up.

"Matthew please I can't help you if you don't tell me what is going on! I need to know, I want to know, I want to _help_!"

"My clumsiness can't be helped papa….Now please, I really do have a headache from the fall."

Francis stared at the ground, shaking his head slowly.

"You need…"

He sighed out, leaving only a soft sound.

"You need to fix your eye before you can go to sleep, go and put some ice on it, _d'accord_?"

" _D'accord_ , I'll do that and go to sleep."

"...You need to eat dinner before you go to sleep."

"I'm not hungry, I can't eat like this."

"You need to eat but….You can eat a big breakfast tomorrow, and then after school tomorrow you can visit the crypt."

"I'll have to see how much homework I have papa."

" _Oui_ …..I know."

With that Francis drifted away and Matthew could finally get on with getting ice to his poor bruised eye and then falling into a stupor until he finally fell asleep early in the day, even beating the sunset.

By this point, you can get the idea of what he was going through. It felt like if he were to tell someone all that he had gone through it would sound like an ad for anti-bullying, the ones that were a bright and sunny color until it showed the poor hapless victim and then suddenly some horrible statistics pop up to make you feel terrible and _poof_ , problem solved. No more bullying because obviously just saying that it's bad, telling people that it's bad and having schools enforce the idea that "hey, bullying is bad so you should stop it", is enough to actually make it stop. Well it didn't, or else maybe Matthew would have some friends to sit with at lunch, maybe he'd actually eat some of his lunch instead of putting it aside because his stomach twisted with every bite, his nerves just couldn't handle the food. Maybe it would change something about that absolute heavy void inside of him, but then that sounded like another statistic, didn't it?

The next day he went to his school his bruised eye felt like a homing beacon for the jerks, they swarmed in and joked as they pushed him along to class in a teacher-free hallway.

"Got that from your girlfriend huh?"

"Oh or maybe his parents did that!"

"Yeah I know I would if I had that ugly of a kid!"

Matthew scrunched up his shoulders and hurried on, trying to mutter under his breath to still his resolve.

"Stupid….It's...They're wrong...They're not even creative...Don't listen...They're wrong…This will all end one day."

Yeah, right.

After that he stopped caring. He stopped caring if they hurt him, what was the point of telling anyone or caring when it wouldn't stop? So even though he got pushed, shoved, hit and tormented he didn't care anymore.

He didn't care until Francis made him.

Matthew started to head to his room, his one place of refuge when like a few days...No a few weeks ago he was stopped by his father. Time slipped by so much now.

"We need to talk Matthew."

"Papa I'm tired, I need to sleep."

"No you don't, you've slept enough recently for a year!...Go to the kitchen right now."

"Papa really I just-"

"GO!"  
It had been a long time since his father raised his voice to him and so Matthew soon scurried off to the kitchen, sitting down in the chair and looking around, it felt odd to be in here now. It only took a second for Francis to appear, and soon the ghost was pacing in front of him, frowning.

"I am sorry for yelling Matthew...Now, go to the fridge and open it up."

This was odd but Matthew did as asked, opening it wide to showcase the fridge nearly half full with plenty of food for one person.

"Matthew why is that fridge still so full? You bought groceries nearly a week and a half ago and yet it is still nearly full! The food hardly looks like it's been touched!...How do you explain that?"

Matthew couldn't answer that.

"That's what I thought Matthew…..That's what I thought."

His voice sounded so drained it did not even sound like Francis's anymore, Matthew rose to try and get away from it and the quickly growing guilt. That alone felt weird as it had been a while since he had felt much of anything really.

"This isn't the end of what I have to say Matthew, Please sit back down."

Matthew did so heavily.

"Thank you. Now then...Also, what happened to your eye a while back? You've been using the ice so much, it's as if you're being hurt everyday…But you never say anything about that..."

Francis suddenly turned to him, his chest heaved with the actions of crying that his body remembered.

"I have been so _worried_ for you Matthew! You don't eat, you don't do anything but sleep! And you come home hurt, I can tell! You try to hide it but I can tell that you're hurt! I can't even pick up the phone to call the school to see what's wrong but I don't think they know either, do they?! Nobody knows what's going on with you, and I can't seem to help you!...I should be able to help you, I'm your father but I...I've gone wrong, I've messed up and now I don't know if I can fix it."

"Please….It's not your fault…"

"...I am your father, I should be able to help you Matthew...Yet I-I feel so far away from you now and every single day you slip away from me a little more...In the war Matthew it got to some men...It got to every man but some more than others...We found one man had shot himself." Francis choked up, his whole being trembling and shaking, the light fading in and out of him. "Don't join me Matthew...You have so much…..So much to live for….You are so thin now…."

Matthew stared at the ground, forcing himself to bite his tongue so that he wouldn't cry. This was just too much.

"Please Matthew, I need you to eat."

Matthew stood, went to the fridge and pulled out a small piece of bread with a thin hand that he had hardly noticed before. He placed it in the toaster and when it was done, he ate it.

 _It took a long time to fix what had happened to him. It wasn't like the movies where a person who's depressed just happens to have a changing moment and they automatically get better. It wasn't like that at all. But, he did eventually get better, and with some encouragement from the soldiers and Francis he even went to a few therapy sessions which helped more than he could have ever thought that they would. So that was his state as he entered high school, he was worried about being thrust into such a new world, but he managed. Here's how._


	5. Chapter 5

_High school, the place that was supposed to be hell….It was so much better than middle school. Why people assumed that high school was worse than middle school he had no idea, but at least in his case it was better than his previous experience. For one, he actually ate, which was good. For another, people left his books and him, alone. Which was even better. Finally, the most unbelievable miracle happened. He went on a date._

" _First_ day in high school!"

"Yes, I know papa!"

"It's going to be stressful, but I know you can do it, and we can always call your psychiatrist again!"

"No, thank you, i'll be fine!"

"Ok!...Do you have your lunch box?"

" _Yes_ papa!"

Francis nodded with pride as he reached out to smooth down Matthew's brand new shirt, and then drew back his hands with a light hearted chuckle before they could pass through the teens chest.

"Ah, I am too excited now, _non?"_

"...A little yeah….."

"Oh but how could I not be?! My boy...No...My _young man_ is going off to high school where he will get to leave all those jerks behind and I know you will be so much happier there!"

"I hope so…"

"I _know_ so! Now go on before I dote anymore."

That was all the leave Matthew needed as he ducked out of the house, shouldering his light backpack and making his way outside to the road where he would start to make his way into the city. They had been getting ready for high school since the end of middle school, with some effort they had found the high school that was least likely to have any of his former classmates in it and enrolled there, in other words, it was a high school for "exceptional students."

Over the course of the summer Matthew spent his time at the crypt and on shopping trips to get new clothes, and to get advice from the ghostly soldiers on how to make friends. This time, he couldn't fail. How could he stand four more years of what he had already gone through? He couldn't, not really which is why this _had_ to work. He had a plan now though, he'd sit down in class and look at the person next to him and compliment them somehow!...Just how he was going to find something to say he didn't know, but like an actor studying for a leading role in a play he made of a "script" of things he could try to say and practiced that over and over again until it sounded normal.

It was stuff like this that probably made him friendless in the first place…..Oh well, he'd try this anyway. It wasn't like he had much to lose with trying this new plan of his. So, as the maple trees shook off their old leaves Matthew anxiously checked his brand new backpack and shuffled it again over his crisp formal shirt and marched on to school.

The high school was in an old grey brick building that would seem gloomy in the winter he was sure, but now in the fall with all of the red and orange leaves scattered across the grass it seemed cheery and bright, boosting Matthews strained confidence.

"Ok...I can do this….I got this….."

"What do you got?"

"AH!"

Matthew let out a small undignified yelp before turning to see an other teen with blonde hair and bright blue eyes staring at him.

"Ah….I got…...I got...Blue eyes, like yours, they're so….nice!"

 _Great_ , now he sounded like he was flirting.

"Oh, cool, thanks! Names Alex, yours?"

"Matthew! Matthew Bonnefoy!"

"Nice to meet yah Matthew,you must be new to the area. Hey, what's your class schedule look like?"

"Oh uh….I've got Honors English, French, History and Honors bio."

Alex let out a small whistle through his teeth, making a low sound as they walked into the halls of the school, the whole area had a freshly waxed floor smell to it. Plus sweat. There's always the sweat smell.

"Those are some hard classes dude, why'd you do that to yourself?!"

"Well…..I wanted to!"

"So i've found some sort of genius then?...Hey, you should join our STAT club!"

"The what? I've….never heard of that."

Matthews head was spinning by this point, he almost felt like he was being interrogated, but in a good way? All he knew, was that this was new and a bit weird. This guy was a serious extrovert if he had ever seen one.

"Eh...Yeah most people haven't…..But hey, that just makes it even more exclusive since it's kind of a word of mouth club! Like anime club, chess club, drama club and knitting club!"

Well, it was clear that Alex was also a huge dweeb, and he probably had a very small friend group. In short, he was perfect. Besides, perhaps some of his extroverted...ness might rub off on him!

"Yeah, i'd love to see what STAT club is about!"

"Really?! Awesome, maybe with another member we can actually start to compete in events!"

"Wait…..Compete?"

They came to a crossroads and Alex nodded grinning as he split off.

"Yeah, don't worry about it though, it's still a month away! See you later!"

With that Alex ran off, and with his back turned Matthew could see what looked like a million charms and pins on his backpack with different loyalties such as Star Trek, Dungeons and Dragons, even possibly a weird looking blue haired anime chick….Huh.

Beggars couldn't be choosers and honestly, these are the kinds of people that Matthew needed to find. A whole group of weirdos, just like him! Yeah, that sounded nice. Matthew shuffled his backpack for the last time, it only held a few textbooks and one book for him to read, Francis having convinced him to try this first day to not read and actually talk to people. He walked into the first class of the day, Honors English, and dragged out his final report on the summer reading book that they had all been assigned.

"Alright class, get out your reports, you all knew it was due on the first day."

A very audible groan came from the class as a few people drug out their reports, but more let out panicked questions.

"I didn't think you meant the _first_ first day back!"

"Well that is what first means, hmm? Now come on everyone, if you don't have it today you can always turn it in tomorrow…...For an eighty."

The groans rose like some sort of miserable chorus line, but the teacher went around calmly and gathered what few reports were given to her. As for Matthew he had nothing to worry about from his report, it had been read and debated over by nearly the entire crypt full of soldiers, except for the ones who couldn't read of course. His report therefore was quite eloquent. Although Francis had to put the reins in on Wolfe a bit, he was getting a bit carried away at one point.

Other than the summer report putting more than half of the class into an utter state of panic and crisis the English class actually went well. He...Didn't actually talk to anyone around him, but then again, not many people did, except for those who already had friends in that class. Which was more than half of the class…..Great.

The next class on his agenda was French, he had to be placed in a first year class because he had transferred there, but as soon as he had a nearly perfect conversation in French with the teacher about the class and some of his classmates that he observed the teacher promised to bump him up a level. This obviously didn't make him very many friends as it made him look like a showoff to the first years students and so he could only hope to try again with the second year French students who might appreciate his language skills…..Maybe.

By the time he got to his third class he was ready to eat his paper, he was so hungry. With the third class being history he was just lucky that he had an extensive knowledge of colonial history because it looked like the teacher wasn't going to be doing much of anything since as soon as he had passed out the usual paperwork stuff he turned on a Crash Course history video for the rest of class, the video being on the Middle Ages when they were in Canadian history….. He took this chance to try and talk to someone around him, but the girl next to him was on her phone and seemed pretty engrossed in a game, while the boy next to him was already snoring his way through class, and the person in front of him was fiddling with a paperclip like it was his own knife.

He'd wait.

At this point he had hardly spoken to anyone except for the kid that morning Allen...Wait no his name was Alex…..Right? Crap, he was terrible at names! The one person all day to have talked to him and he couldn't even remember his name! What's worse is that when he was musing over all of his he finally got into the cafeteria, staring out into the void of people shouting and already tossing stuff at each other and almost started to hightail it out of there...Maybe he could eat at the library, or maybe he could find a nice closet that was tucked away….Yeah, that's just what he would do!

This was _not_ running away from social interaction, this was just taking time to calm down and eat his lunch in peace, it was just…...Going to read more books, so that he could….Be smarter. _Yeah_. Matthew had already scoped out the school's library and soon found his way inside, heaving a sigh of relief as he could smell the musty, dusty and yet crisp scent of thousands of pages. This was the perfect haven, and this library was even bigger than his former middle school library. He went around a corner to where no one could see him and soon found a small room with glowing computers that was even better and marched right inside.

Inside, he found _people._ Around five heads turned to look at him from their computer screens as he almost dropped his lunchbox.

"Oh! Sorry...Sorry guys! I'll just be….Be right out...Out…."

"Yo Matthew, is that you?!"

A mop of blond hair rose up from the floor behind a series of computer, Alex was wearing some lab goggles that pushed back his hair until he took it off, grinning widely.

"How did you find STAT club so easily?! We aren't even officially meeting yet, this is just a tinkering day! You must have really wanted to join our league!"

"Oh! Oh yeah well...I'm just…..Amazingly _lucky_!"

Alex hopped out of his spot in the floor and led Matthew to where he had been behind the line of computers, in the center of the floor was a small hard drive of a computer hook up to what looked like a crane.

"Check it out!"

Alex slid on some thick gloves and started to tap on the computer hard drive with a thin metal stick, as soon as he touched a few places the crane hand began to move.

"Neat huh?"

"How…..How did you do that?! I can barely turn on a computer right!"

"Wait...You're not good at computers?"

"Ah….No. I'm not. My house….Doesn't have a lot of tech...:"

It was hard to learn how to use a lot of technology when the only other person who might teach you was a soldier in the Seven years war. They both knew how to turn on a computer, look up something on Google and turn on a TV. That was pretty much it.

"Oh man…..How much do you guys have anyway?"

"Eh…..We have a TV, phones, a desktop computer."

"And?"

"And what?"

Alex gasped dramatically, a hand over his chest as he stared at Matthew in horror.

"What about a Xbox?!"

"Uh...No."

"Playstation?"

"Nope."

" _Wii?!"_

" _Non?"_

"No, the game station!"

"Oh, nope!"

Alex laid his hand son Matthew shoulder looking at him with an intense seriousness.

"Please tell me you at least have a Nintendo 3DS."

"...A what?"

Alex crumpled, holding his head.

"Nooooooo! How can you be this far back in the Stone Age?!"

"Well, I do have a lot of books at least!"

"That's good….Wait, let me see your phone."

"Uh...Ok"

Matthew drew out his small flip phone and Alex recoiled from it as if Matthew had dragged out a live snake.

" _Mother Theresa….It's worse than I thought."_

"Alex?...You ok?"

Alex dragged Matthew over to a computer before he could even say another word and plopped him down in a torn up rolling chair, Matthew had to clutch onto his lunch box so that it wouldn't fall out of his lap at the sudden jerk.

"It's a good thing you brought your lunch with you because we are going to be here for a while my friend, I _must_ bring you out of the Stone Age and into this glorious era that is the twenty first century!"

Alex pulled up a chair beside Matthew, flexed his fingers and started to type rapidly on the computer's keyboard, opening up the entire world right before Matthew's eyes. By the end of the lunch period Matthew was convinced that he needed a new phone so that he could he could get on some level with the people that he had met at lunch. He had to evolve with the time, and having a flip phone just wouldn't cut it.

Then he looked at the prices for a brand new smartphone with data...Perhaps he could wait on that for a little while, he had to keep the majority of his "inheritance" for college and other important stuff, like food and water. But then also….Music, and games, and the _internet_! He'd have to decide on this later, all he knew was that after school he had an invite to eat lunch again with Alex and his friends at the STAT club "hideout". He had a place to belong now.

"Just ask her out!"

"No!"

"Dude, don't be a pansy, just ask her out!"

"Come on!"

"Just do it!"

Matthew groaned, trying to hide his face with his lunch box as his friends crowded around him, each pushing on a part of him to try and edge him over to Katy, whom was probably the most beautiful girl in school…...Ok, maybe that was just his biased opinion, but that's what he thought! She was super sweet and kind, with her bleached out nearly white hair and bright smile to match. For another thing, she wasn't popular at all. She was actually in the knitting club, book club, horticulture club, that kind of thing. Despite having some of the girls be rude to her about her clothing, which was usually in various shades of pastels, she was incredibly kind. Also, she _talked_ to Matthew, as in they often had long discussions in the library about their favorite books. It was….It was amazing.

"Why not ask her out Matthew, it's obvious she likes you! She talks to you _all_ the time!"

"Yeah, come on, you actually have a chance with her!"

"You guys, you know I can't do this! I've never asked anyone out before, and I haven't really read about it either!"

"Yeah well when you first joined our brotherhood you didn't know how to use a computer properly, now you can do that, also, you're already a level 15 wizard in Dungeons and Dragons! Anyone who can accomplish that can surely ask out a girl!"

"...I don't see what that has to do with asking out a girl in real life."

"It has _everything_ to do with asking out a girl _IRL_! You defeated an Orc last week, and this week you took down an entire army of the undead with a single fire spell! You've got this!"

Matthew groaned, shaking his head as his friends finally let up just before they could shove him into the door of the library where they could see Katy quietly reading a book. She glanced up and waved at the group, Matthew paled and waved back, a wavery smile on his face. Lord he wasn't ready for this, he felt like he was sweating _buckets_.

"GO!"

With a mighty heave his friends shoved him into the library and left him, all running away and laughing, Alex giving him a thumbs up before turning around to dash away, leaving Matthew alone and defenseless. He staggered over to the round table that Katy was at and sat down heavily while she just smiled at him with those cute little lips…..He was so not ready for this.

"Hey Katy! Whats….Whats up?"

"Oh, I am just reading this new book, you would love it!"

A book! That was perfect, he could talk about books all day!

"Yeah? What is it about?"

Katy launched into a full summary of the book, the way she talked she was just so energized and her eyes seemed to brighten up the instant that she talked about her books.

"And then there was a dragon that came and saved the princess! Isn't that amazing!"

"Yeah, it sounds really good!"

He grinned nervously as some silence lapsed over them, now was his chance, all he had to do was invite her to go with him to the movies, he had the perfect one picked out too. The movie in question was a book to movie adaptation, so either it would be great and they could be excited together,or it would be terrible and they could rant together about the inaccuracies from the book to the movie. Either way, it was perfect!

"So uh...You know that...that new….Movie?"

"Oh, the one based on the fantasy book!"

"Yeah! That one! It looks….It looks good, doesn't it?"

"Yes! It does...Why?"

Katy smiled at him brightly, he could tell she was expecting him to ask her out and so all he had to do was actually _do_ that!

"...No reason, just curious! Hey sorry but I have to go, I have a Bio test to study for, bye!"

Matthew grabbed his bag and almost ran out of the library, heading to the other place him and his friends hung out at, the small patio area that was now covered in snow. He hurriedly put on his coat and ran out there where they were swiping off a table to set up their tabletop games.

"Hey! Matthew, you have a real fire on your tail huh! Did she say yes?"

Alex approached him regarding his slumped shoulders and soon groaned.

"You didn't ask her, did you?"

"Ah….Well...I told her about the movie, and she wants to go…"

"But you didn't ask her out."

"No….No I didn't."

Alex groaned, shaking his head as one of his friends that was setting up the table top slowly pulled out a "Level one" card, pointing at it disdainfully.

"Oh come on Matthew, you were so close!"

"I know, I know! I just get so nervous, she makes me so nervous and sweaty, but in a good way, you know?!"  
"No, no I don't know. Now you are going back to the library right now to talk to her!"

Matthew latched himself onto the table as his friends began to tug at him, pushing and pulling.

"No! No I can't! Not now! Come on guys!"

They yanked him off of the table and once again began to drag him off, he was getting serious sense of Deja vu…..

"You _have_ to!"

Just as they approached the door to the school once again the bell rang for the end of lunch.

" _HAHA_! I can't now! See yah later!"

Matthew twisted to get away from their grasp and started to dash away to his biology class.

"This isn't over Matthew, you _will_ ask her out man! You're the _wizard_!"

Matthew rolled his eyes but shouted back.

"I'm the _wizard_!"

" _Yeah_ you are!"

Ok, so since the whole "asking a girl out on a date" thing didn't work, maybe it was time to go to a better source of advice. So, he did.

As it turns out, Google sucks at love advice. So, he went to the next best thing to that, his father.

Francis was in the living room, watching the latest episode of Iron Chef Canada, he was obsessed since it was the next to last episode. On his way to the living room Matthew could hear him muttering quite loudly to himself.

"You wouldn't know French cuisine if it hit you in the face _Robert…_."

"Ehh...papa?"  
Francis turned around from where he was floating on the couch and grinned at Matthew, gesturing to the place beside him.

"Come sit down, the finale is up next after this episode! You should have seen the last three ones, they got intense!"

"...Have you been watching this all day?"

"Matthew I am a ghost, there's not much else I can do."

"Ah, true."

Matthew sat down and waited until a commercial to start talking again.

"...So...Eh…..How….How did you get your wife to date you?"

"Hmm? Well that was out of nowhere, but I asked her father if I could court her when I first saw her. We had to have a chaperone at first of course, but then by the seventh date they allowed us to bundle!"

"The _seventh?!..._ Wait…..What the _heck_ is bundling?"

"Ah _oui,_ I know it was a bit soon, but we were so in love we acted a bit rash! Oh and that's where we can sleep in the same bed, without being married, as long as we had this plank between us…... _Ahem_ , we got married quickly after."

"...Did you get her pregnant?"

"...Look Matthew, Iron Chef is back on!"

"Oh my G-"

" _Shhhhhhhh..._ it's the finale!"

Why….. _Why_ was he asking his father for advice? He loved him, but good Lord he was from the Sevens years war! They thought it was romantic back then to marry over a stinking anvil! Then again, his own friends weren't much help either, they thought he'd be fine because he was a higher level wizard…..Why was his life so weird? As he mulled this over he heard Francis muttering in French as Robert talked on the TV while _boiling_ a pork loin for his dish, something about how Robert must have been British.

They approached the next commerical and this time Francis was the first one to speak up.

"Ahem so….why did you ask all of that?"

"Oh! Well...It's nothing…."

"Matthew, you're lying…..Is something wrong at school?!"

"No! No, don't freak out, nothing's wrong! Actually, it's the opposite...Ok so, I have this girl I want to ask out, that's all!"

"...You want to ask out a girl?"

"Yeah! You know, Katy!"

"I thought you were dating Alex?"

" _PAPA_."

" _What? What?_ It's a perfectly-"

"I'm not dating Alex! We're just friends!"

" _D'accord, d'accord!"_

Well this was already a disaster.

"I just….I just need advice for _Katy_! Please I just...Don't want to mess up in front of her, ok?"

The episode came back in, the chefs were in the dessert portion and Francis grinned at him, talking over the TV, however his eyes narrowed a bit at Roberts pick of desserts, a chocolate cupcake that he had to microwave last second.

"Alright, well in order to woo anyone you must first and foremost be a gentleman Matthew. Just do everything that I taught you, open the door for them, give out _real_ compliments. Anyone may comment on someone's beauty, but you must be special, so tell them what makes them special. If they are an artist, comment on how good their patience must be to practice so much. Here, try it for this Katy of yours, or Alex…"

The Alex part was a bit mumbled but Matthew ignored it in order to think about complimenting Katy.

"Oh, well thats easy! I love how she's always so nice, and how she will talk to anyone no matter what...I also love how she can just talk on and on about so many books, she's so well read!"

"Ah I see, she is a bit of a genius then? That's good, very good! Then you must simply be yourself, because you are so smart you will woo her with your intellect!"

"...Seriously? Be myself?"

"Matthew I know it is cliche but that truly is the best advice! When it comes to love, you do not want to live in a lie."

"But-"

"But nothing Matthew, simply be polite, and be yourself! Come now, you are a smart boy and I am sure you can ask her out on a simple date!"

"It's...It's not a _simple_ thing!"

"Why not Matthew? What makes it so hard?"

"Uh...Well...It's just...You have to…"

"You have to not be afraid."

"...Yeah. I guess that's all there is to it then huh?"

" _Oui_."

Matthew took a deep breath and let it out just as the next Canadian Iron Chef was announced.

" _WHY DID THEY PICK ROBERT?!"_

Day two, round two of trying to woo Katy.

Maybe this time he could to it?...Right. He could try this again. He had this under control…..Right.

He entered the hallways of the school, scraping the snow off of his boots on the black pads that were in front of the doorways and were already soaking wet. This done he made his way to the library where Katy was sure to be reading before school started. No friends to back him up this time, he had to do it himself...Plus he didn't want them shouting that wizard stuff again.

Just as he expected Katy was in the library, the light from the windows made her almost white hair shine….It was so cute how she sat there, her hand tucked under her chin, obviously so engrossed in the book. Maybe he shouldn't disturb her….

No, no, _no_ , he was not backing out again! He could do this!

"Hey Katy!"

Katy looked up and smiled widely, waving at him before shutting her book with a small, satisfying thud.

"Hello Matthew, how are you?"

"I'm….I'm...good! How are you?"

Oh lord he could feel the sweat building up all over again….

"I'm wonderful Matthew!...Are you ok, you look a bit faint…."

"Noooooo, no, i'm fine! Hey! Uh!..."

This was it, all he had to do was blurt it out…

"Go...Out….On….Movie...me?"

Katy blinked for a moment, then spoke softly to him.

"What? I couldn't hear you. Sorry!"

"Oh uh...Will you...Go out...To the...Movies with….me?"

"Oh! Oh yes, of course I will! That sounds wonderful Matthew!"

"Really?!"

Katy grinned widely, standing up and holding out the book that she had been reading, the one that had just been made into a movie.

"Yes of course, I have been wanting to see it with a friend! But as a date is even better!"

"I...I couldn't say it better myself!"

Matthew exchanged the date with her, the time and then chatted about the book with her a bit, that topic causing him to relax some as they talked easily about the pros and cons of it being made into a movie. They were so deep in their conversation that he didn't even notice when it was five minutes till school started, and he had to meet with his friends.

"Oh, sorry Katy, I have to go!"

"Ah, did you miss your Dungeons and Dragons match?"

"...How did you know we do that?"

"The library walls are not thick Matthew, also, congratulations on becoming a level fifteen wizard!"

With that, she was gone, he just wished that the library walls were thicker.

The perfect cologne, the perfect shirt, the perfect pants, the perfect hair style, everything had to be just perfect for this date. He dressed in what he thought was close enough to the newest fashion, a thick plaid shirt hoodie and jeans….Ok so it was simple, but he couldn't exactly wear a suit and tie to the movie theaters. He had already tried that and Francis had stopped him. In hindsight as he was riding the bus to Katy's apartment, flowers in hand, it was a good thing that his father had stopped that. He would have drawn more attention than the flowers already had. In just the span of a few minutes ride on the bus he already had some elderly couples pointing on his direction and muttering about how cute it was….

Oh well, better to be cute than called a "hoodlum" he supposed. The bus lurched to a squeaky stop about a block away from Katie's apartment, this was the closest bus stop and so he hopped off, breathing in the fresh air that felt so _good_ after being on public transport. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cologne, trying to get rid of the bus stench before he went off to get Katy.

The good thing about walking roughly a block was that it gave him time to plan out his greeting, the bad thing about having to walk a block was that it gave him time to freak out over the greeting. How he could get so anxious about simply knocking on a door and saying "hi" he didn't know, but by the time he made it to her door his stomach was twisted up into knots and he could feel his hand shaking as he knocked on the door.

The large wooden door slung open slowly, revealing...Not Katy. Definitely not Katy, although they shared the same almost white hair….So then this large, imposing guy was her brother...Her brother must have gotten all of the tall gene in the family because even though he himself was pretty tall, he had nothing on Katys brothers height whom must have been at least three or four inches taller than him.

"Oh uh...hello, how are you today?"

"I am fine, and you?"

"Fine! Fine...Thanks!...So uh...Where's Katy?"

"She is getting ready."

"Oh!, great!"

He nearly had to crane his neck to smile at the guy, something he hadn't had to do since he was a _kid._ The guy just stood there with his arms crossed, staring at Matthew.

"My name is Ivan."

"Oh, yeh, sorry I should have asked! Mines Matthew."

Matthew hoisted his flowers up into his arm and offered Ivan his hand, the teen took it and shook it rapidly, gripping his hand so tight the thought his bones might pop a bit. However, after they had done that Ivan looked him over and finally smiled, opening the door all the way.

"You are very polite Matthew."

"Ah, well thank you Ivan!"

The house inside smelled like warmed sugar cookies, it must have been Katys handiwork since she was the baker of the house apparently. They made their way to a kitchen where the cookies were sitting on a tray, probably so they could cool before frosting.

"So uh...How often does Katy bake?"

"Quite often, she loves it, we do as well! By my body doesn't it."

Ivan laughed heartily as he patted his rounded belly, but it in all honestly wasn't too bad. If he hadn't mentioned it Matthew would have thought it to be muscle instead.

"Ah it's not too bad, besides life would be pretty boring without sweets, right?"

"Yes, I suppose so."

A silence passed over them and Matthew ended up clearing his throat.

"Errr…..Do you like to read?"

"Occasionally."

"Thats neat, what genre do you like?"

"I enjoy reading about philosophy."

"Oh! Oh wow thats...thats a deep topic huh?"

"Yes, it is."

"Right…..Ahem…"

They stood there for a few minutes, only the sound of the wind as it creaked the apartment was present until Ivan spoke up once again.

"Would you like a drink or anything?"

"Oh, oh no i'm good, thanks!"

"You're welcome…."

Just when the silence got to be unbearable Katy rushed down the stairs wearing a bright smile and a simple dress and leggings combo, plus a coat.

"Hello Matthew, sorry for the wait!"

"It's no problem! Oh, you look really cute by the way!"

He extended his flowers out to her and she chuckled lowly, accepting them as she sniffed the flowers.

"Thank you! And thank you for these wonderful flowers! Did you conjure them?"

She made the last part hushed so only Matthew could hear her jab at his wizarding level.

"Ah no...I...I have to be a level twenty for that!"

"Oh, I see!"

Katy laughed softly as she set the flowers into a nice vase that they held on a table, replacing the fake ones that had been in there previously. She arranged them gently and then grabbed her purse that was hanging on a chair next to them.

"Ready?"

"Yeah! Oh, nice to meet you Ivan!"

Ivan nodded as he took up an apron and started to bring out ingredients for frosting, probably to finish Katys work. It seemed like there was more than one baker in the house. The two left the house, Matthew making sure to do everything the way he was taught. He opened the door for her, he made conversation that he knew would interest both of them so she wouldn't feel obligated to just listen to his rambling, and he made sure to stand on the right side of her as they walked down the sidewalk. He wasn't sure why this was a tradition, apparently it had something to do with chamber pots being flung out back in the colonial days?

Oh well, he did it anyway because it made him look more proper and gentlemanly. With books as their conversation topic they made it all the way to the movie theater without a single hitch in the conversation, something he had been incredibly worried about. Things were going smoothly and so when they got settled into the dim theater with their soda and popcorn Matthew excused himself to "go to the bathroom", in all actuality he was going there to text his friends about how well this was going, he honestly didn't think he'd get this far.

The bathroom was a long series of stalls, that unlike high school bathroom stalls didn't have that much graffiti and actually smelled relatively clean. It was bad when a public bathroom was better than the ones you're forced to use at school for a span of eight hours every day….But anyway, these were pretty nice! Matthew sent a quick text to his friends and then splashed his face with some water, his hands going to his shirt pocket where he had his cologne, another spray wouldn't hurt right? As soon as he drew out the cologne the room chilled about twenty degrees as instead of staring into his face in the mirror he was suddenly staring into the face of someone else.

"Not too much cologne Matthew!"

"HOLY SHI-"

"Language!"

"PAPA!"

The cologne tumbled to the floor, but since it was of the cheap variety it was in a plastic bottle and so it didn't break.

" _Oui, c'est moi!"_

" _What are you doing here?!"_

"Well I had to make sure that your big first date was going ok!"

"So you've been _following_ me?!"

"Now when you say it like that it sounds creepy."

"That's because it is! Papa i'm on a date, _please_ go home!"

"I know and she is quite pretty, so remember to-"

" _Papa!"_

"Fine, fine Matthew! But don't mess this up, you two would make beautiful grandchildren!"

Matthews father left, leaving him to exclaim at an empty mirror.

" _We're in high school!"_

Ugh. Gotta love that colonial era urgency for babies….Oh well. Matthew splashed his face with some more water to try and wash off the talk of grandbabies and then headed back out to where Katy was waiting, the ads having just started. This was going to be a good night, he was sure.

Just as he had expected, his father was waiting for him beside the front door as he toted in a little ziploc bag full of iced sugar cookies.

"So, how did it go?"

Francis's voice spoke with an excited urgency, he quickly floated over to Matthew as he shook off the light snow from his flannel jacket.

"It went great!"

"Did it?! Alright, give me the details! I must hear them all, oh i'm so proud!"

"There's not much to say, we had a great time at the movies, talked through the whole thing and then had a great dinner afterwards! Then she gave me , and the movie was horrible compared to be book, but it was fun to make fun of."

"And?!"

"And we are going on another date next week."

" _AH_! That is wonderful _mon petit chou!_ That is absolutely wonderful! I am so proud!"

Francis forgot himself and attempted to hug him, which Matthew chuckled at.

"Yeah and next week we'll start on those grandbabies…."

" _Don't you dare young man!"_

"Ah, just a joke, just a joke papa!"

"Alright….But I can appear in a mirror Matthew, I can appear other places as well…."

"Ok! Ok!"

 _After that Katy and I did the usual couple stuff of going out on dates, sitting together for lunch and we even got her to be a level six healer for our crew, not the most impressive thing but pretty good for someone who had just started! The years slipped by in a blur of clubs, dates, even a prom that was fairly new for the school to host. It was senior year and he had been accepted into a great college in Ottawa, it was then that he "became a man."_


	6. Chapter 6

_Senior year of high school just crept up on him so fast, it was like one day he was walking into the doors of high school and the next he was leaving it's doors for the last time. While he had never expected to say this, he was actually upset about having to leave. College was just such a new world to him, in a whole different Province of Canada! Not to mention that he left much earlier than all of his friends, he would be going right after his birthday just in time for the "Spring" semester, a perk of being in a gifted students program. However, when he learned how he got his start in the world it was so crazy that he figured, why not survive college?_

"Yo Matt, where's your dad at?"

"Ah, he's probably just hanging around at work…"

"Really?! On your birthday, dude that _sucks_!"

"No, it's fine, really! I mean its how i'm able to go to college, right?"

Alex shrugged, holding his brithday gift for Matthew that was wrapped in Star Trek wrapping paper, it sported Spock's famous quote of "Live long and prosper."

"I guess so...Oh well, look at what I got you!"

With a faint relieved sigh that he was giving this up Matthew grabbed the box from him and started to open it up among his friends and girlfriend, how Katy had stuck with him for so long he had no idea, it was perhaps the bonding experiences they had with Dungeons and Dragons, which now rested on his kitchen table to be played later in the day.

Inside the hefty box from Alex, Matthew found an insanely thick book on tips and tricks for Dungeons and Dragons, including pictures of different creatures and some new casting spells.

"Oh man this is awesome, thank you!"

"You're welcome, I had to get you only the best in D&D merch before you went off to college! You have to carry our brotherhood with you and start with new people!"

"Yeah….I will, don't worry!"

He really wished that he didn't have to think about finding new friends, it was stressful enough to just think about college classes, but new friends as well? That was daunting to be sure. Plus, he had to worry about a roommate...Ugh. Who knew what a roommate would bring! A new roommate could bring a lover that would spend nights with them, forcing Matthew to sleep in the library or the bathrooms, they could bring drugs, they could be a part of some weird cult even! Or, more than likely, they could just be a bit messy or rude….But still, the other things were also a possibility!

"Yo, Matt, you still with us?"

Matthew jerked up and away from staring at his new book, he grinned sheepishly. Seems like they had caught him in the middle of an inner monologue…

"Yeah, I am, sorry! I just got carried away with reading one of the new casting spells!"

"Oh I know, it's such an interesting book huh?!"

"Yeah, it is!"

Matthew quickly set aside the book and looked to the others, Katy offering him her present next. Katy's presents were always great since she usually made them herself, whether it be cookies or something like that he knew he wouldn't find anything store bought in the bag. This time however he was pleasantly surprised to find a neatly tucked pale cream color scarf inside of the bag, with a detailed cable design.

"Katy did you make this?"

"Yes I did! Do you like it?"

"Yeah, of course I do! It's wonderful, really!"

Just to show how much he loved it Matthew took the soft wool scarf and put it on right there in the house. He soon got a bit overheated around the neck and head since it was a thick and warm wool, but he didn't care.

"Thank you, Katy, I love it."

"You're welcome! I heard that it is even colder in Ottawa, so you will be needing this!"

After that the rest of the gifts passed by in a blur, after living so long with only the gifts that he could make himself, it still felt like a miracle every time he got a single gift. Even if it was a dinky gift that one of his friends got him as a sort of joke he didn't care, and actually kept some of them. Except for the ones he got during "Dirty Santa" with the tech people from drama club….He had to quickly ditch that one in the school bathroom before he got home and gave his father a heart attack.  
"Thank you all so much...You guys ready for pizza?"

"Hell yeah! Oh, sorry Katy!"

"It's ok Alex! That one was not as bad as last weeks..."

Matthew was always amazed by how much Alex restrained his language around Katy, it really was an amazing feat. Usually he would be cursing with enough force to make even a sailor blush, but around Katy the worst he said was "hell."

"Jeez Alex, be a gentleman around my girlfriend"

"Matthew just get the f-...Flippin pizza.'

"Can do!"

The rest of the party passed on like that, Alex trying to suppress his "foul" mouth and his friends just chatting and eating pizza. The night ended with a dragons and dungeons match that lasted for a _short_ time, only two hours! It was dark when his friends split up, those that were lucky enough to have a car driving the rest home. Matthew wasn't one of these lucky people, so he let the others drive off, waving to them.

"Your friends are as interesting as always Matthew."

"Yeah, they're...Always like that."

He laughed, turning to Francis. When the ghost was nearly touching the ground it was clear that Matthew had almost surpassed his height, and that was when Matthew was slouching, which he usually did to Francis's utter horror.

"Well Matthew, the night is still young and you still have people to go see."

"Ah, time for more trespassing? I'm technically an adult now, I could go to prison."

"Oh hush you, it's fine."

With a small snicker Matthew followed Francis out into the cold as they walked to the crypt, Matthew having brought some metal clippers just in case the park had redone the lock after the last time that they had had to snap it off. Seemed like the caregivers thought there was some angry ghost that was doing it… Matthews new scarf proved it's worth as by the time they got to the crypt his breath came out in a fog and his fingers were chilled, but he knew once he got into the crypt itself he had him some "hot pockets" stored away, as well as some old blankets. Any of the caregivers that actually came into the crypt would think there was a homeless man living inside, but luckily the soldiers inside just made some banging noises and that was enough to scare anyone off. It was because of this that every time Matthew went inside he almost choked on the dust, he usually tried to clean up the dust but it was nearly impossible to keep on top of.

"Hello, Matthew my boy, how are you!"

Through a mouth full of dust Matthew managed to choke out a "Hello , i'm great, how are you?"

"Ah, good lad, good! We've just been talking about your birthday!"

At that Mark, the headless soldier piped up.

"You mean _your_ birthdays... _All_ of them...Matthew you've saved us with your arrival, he was just about to tell us about his honeymoon!"

"Oh I was not, there's no need to be so crude in front of the lad!"

"And who says?"

" _I_ do!"

Mark merely shrugged, shifting his head from hand to hand as if contemplating his next move and gauging the danger of it...In the end he merely winked at Matthew but didn't say anything else. At least, not as long as Wolfe was in earshot of them. John joined them and chatted with Matthew about the college, how he would eat, safety measures there and if people in colleges still had deadly duels. Luckily, he was able to be positive for most of this, although they seemed a bit downtrodden at the fact that people no longer dueled to solve issues.

"You guys...You do realize that it is a good thing that people don't do that anymore...Right?"

"But….Where is the _honor?!_ The chivalry!"

"What does chivalry have to do with trying to shoot someone else?!"

John slunk down beside Mark much like a rebutted teenager, muttering a bit.

"Everything."

"Ah, just ignore them my boy, ignore them! They never went to college."

"...Did you even go to college?"

"...You know, I can't quite remember…"

"What?! But, you remember everything else!"

"Alright, alright, now that is enough talk of that for now, don't you all think?!"

Francis's voice cut through the rowdy bunch, it was clear he was about to make some sort of speech since he was trying to clear his throat and had allowed himself to drift into the middle of the room, surrounded on all sides by the soldiers, and of course, Matthew.

"Now Matthew, when you came into my house, I thought that you would be...Like all the others who lived in my home instead saw nothing. Whom passed through, but never interacted with me. I thought that I was destined to forever be a shadow in the house-"

"Francis, get _on_ with it man!"

With a quick dirty look shot to Mark for ruining his perfect speech Francis continued on.

"I thought that I would be alone...Then you came. Matthew, you were such an independant boy, you were at such a young age making your own dinner like it was so normal for your mother to just leave you behind. You were just...So accepting, it broke my heart. That was when I resolved to make your life better, and...I tried. Did I do a good job?"

Francis cracked a smile and Matthew nodded with a chuckle.

"Eh, slightly."

The crypt got a good laugh out of that, then let Francis finish up.

"Well, I certainly tried. The gift I got you, for your eighteenth birthday is one you will have to receive at home….I truly hope you like it, even though it is late coming."

"That's all?! You're not going to tell us what you got the lad?"

"Come now Francis, that's not fair!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but this is for Matthew only!"

What could they do but grumble a bit but then get on with the activities? That night many songs were sung, Matthew ate cake that he had made for himself in a much more conservative size than his first, and they talked. It was wonderful to get this experience at least one more time since he knew they might not have this chance again soon. By the end of the night Matthew's tavern song knowledge had come full circle as he taught the soldiers a song they used for D&D trailers, a ballad of sorts that sounded highly impressive when sung as a group. It was closing in on midnight when Matthew finally stood up heavily to leave.

"Good bye, my boy, make us all proud!"

"Have fun! But if a man insists that he has the prettiest sister in the world and wants you to take her to a tavern don't trust him!"

"Oh, on that topic, never trust a drunk Scottish man, _especially_ if he is from Nova Scotia!"

"Eh...ok?"

"Good bye!"

With one last wave Matthew left the crypt, there was an odd feeling in that, he knew it wouldn't be the last time, because he could come back and visit, yet...There was something final in that door gently slinging shut behind him, the sound of the ghosts, his family, fading out behind him.

"So, what is your gift to me?"

"We must wait until we get back, I can't tell you it here."

"...Why not? Is it physical?"

Francis smiled a bit at that for some odd reason.

"In a way, yes."

A cryptic answer from Francis...A bit typical if he had to admit the truth.

Even with so many things changing, some things remained the same. When they got to the house Matthew hung his coat up on the same coat rack he had been using for years, then Francis gestured him to the couch as he had done so many times before this mystery gift.

"I am not entirely sure that this should be your gift Matthew, it could….Disturb you but...You deserve to know."

Well, that didn't sound too promising. However, Matthew sat down beside his father, subconsciously tensing up a bit. His father was never apprehensive about talking on and on, so this was certainly new to them both.

"I got the idea for your gift by wondering about your abilities...Just how are you able to see me when no one else could?"

"Ehh….I've got the Sixth Sense?"

"Actually, yes, but not exactly in that way. Matthew, are you aware of how the Iroquois used to communicate with the "Great Spirit?'

'Uh…...No clue."

"It was through tobacco smoke, they believed that it's smoke could carry their prayers on to the lesser good spirits, these in turn would answer prayers for humans."

Spirits, tobacco, Great Spirits, what on _earth_ was his father leading up to? This was outlandish even for him, and he couldn't exactly see how this all connected back to him and his ability to see ghosts. Of course he knew that Shamen were real and that they could communicate with ghosts or mortals, like the one that healed his foot when he was little, but even now that memory was so distant it was hard to remember it all. All he remembered was a beaded bag and a mask with frightening, intricate carvings on it.

"...Ok….I'm still not following papa."

"Please let me finish Matthew. Now then, the Shaman that healed your foot has been here for many ages, he has wandered all over his homeland and has gone to many places, in all of these places he had converged with spirits. They have told them stories and just recently he told me one about a little boy that was lost in the woods, whom reeked of tobacco smoke…"

 _Smoke..._ that smell always clung to Matthew when his mother around, to this day even a hint of it would cling to his nose for the rest of the day and remind him of her. He always did his best to be rid of the scent.

"...This story was told to him, that some _Oh-do-was_ were in the woods near your childhood home, you were just a toddler, no more than two or three years old. Barely even old enough to be walking alone... It was near your birthday, and it was snowing. You had been outside all day, your nose was turning blue, you were sobbing to be let into the house but your mother did not hear you. They assumed that she had drunk some of the "white man's drink" and didn't care about your sobs, in fact, they were _annoying_ her. So she kept you out there as the sun set...That was when you stopped crying. These " _little people"_ of the forest are just that, you see, they exist to protect humans and the forest from evil, but the _Oh-do-was_ specialize in the nighttime, they're creatures that protect against creatures of the underworld that try to break out and spread evil... In their eyes, your mother was that evil, so when you stopped crying and grew pale they ordered a Shaman to come see you, her tobacco smoke clung to you and made it easy for spirits to come to you, see? At any rate this Shaman healed you by fixing your dream soul...You see, they believed that you have more than one soul, and one wanders in your sleep, but that is another story...With this healing came the ability to see ghosts, to be able to communicate with the spirit world...He must have seen something in you to trust you with this power, otherwise he would not have given it to you...Your mother soon came back out in the morning, scooped you up and took you back inside as if….As if nothing had happened. That's why you are how you are today."

Matthew sat back on the couch, feeling his chest constrict as if he were drowning. How could he respond to this?! He knew….He knew his mother was horrible but he never thought that….That she would try to _murder_ him in a drunken rage! That was just...that was just unbelievable...Then to think that he was only alive today because of some ancient wood spirits?! It sounded like some sort of fairytale, or perhaps an Aesop's fable with the lesson being to always treat the woods well because _hey_ , they might just rescue a toddler!...What even was this?!

"Matthew?...Are you ok?"

"What?! N-No i'm not ok! You're saying my mom tried to kill me?!"

"Ah...Yes, she was drunk…."

"..So?! That doesn't...I mean….She should have known better than to leave me out there! I...I could have died!"

"Yes….I know."

"How….How could she do that to me?...Her only kid and she...She left me outside…."

"Matthew, I know you're upset and you have every right to be, but look at it this way...You _were_ saved, and left with this gift. That gift was just as much a present for me because I thought that I would never get to talk to another human, much less raise a child of my own!...Because of what your mother did, I got the son I never got to have when I was alive."

That Shamen not only saved his life, he also gave him a father, someone to look up to...While he could never forgive his mother for what she had done...He could at least appreciate the eventual outcome.

"...You're right...I...I shouldn't care about her, I haven't seen her since I was five anyway….Thanks papa."

"You're welcome, but if we ever get the chance we should try to thank that Shaman!"

"Yeah….If we can somehow find them."

To be honest, Matthew didn't even know what he would say to the man if they did somehow find him? Any kind of thank you that he could stutter out would sound hollow, nothing that he said could make up for what he got in return. However, he would like to see that Shamans bag and mask, to see….Just to see.

"Well I am going to have plenty of time while you are off to college, _non?"_

"True...What are you going to do while i'm gone?"

"I suppose….Watch TV… Drift around….Do what I did before."

In order for him to do anything interesting Matthew would have to leave the TV on for him the entire time that he is away at college, even then his father can't change the channels, then he also had to factor in storms or anything that could go wrong with the connection. The only way Francis could do anything would be if he were to get mad, but of course he wasn't going to do that, so then...That was it. Matthew would leave the TV on for Francis on one channel for over four weeks, until he came back for fall break.

"Please tell me you'll get out of the house and talk to the other guys."

"Of course, of course I will! Who else am I going to talk to?"

"...Right…"

"Now Matthew, don't pity me, trust me I have survived this before, I will be fine until you get back!"

"Are you sure? I mean...Maybe, I should have picked a place that was closer."  
"Now Matthew what is this nonsense? You picked that school because it is the best fit for you! I do not want to hear anymore about this picking a different college, _d'accord?_ "

" _Oui….D'accord."_

With that, the issue was settled and Matthew went to sleep that night somehow feeling both heavy and light at the same time.

 _So then, that's just about it. He was at college now, having survived a Canadian winters night and being given ghost powers. His father was probably back at the house pacing around, or perhaps lamenting with the other soldiers at the crypt. Perhaps Wolfe's stories might be able to annoy his father out of his empty nester/ mourning state now that he was in college. Or just maybe, he was happy to have a quiet home again….Okay, so it probably wasn't that, his father was the type to hold it all in while Matthew was packing up and leaving, only to cry later when he was gone. Well whatever he was doing, he would have to wait. Matthew was at the start of a brand new year, a band new life. With this in mind, he stood up, grabbed his room keys and exited his room to go see just what this college had in store for him._

 _Prologue_

"Mon petit chou is gone, he's off to college, _what_ am I going to do with my life now?!"

"Oh Francis, this is not a way for a man to be acting, cheer up! You're so overly dramatic..."

"Oh, shut it Wolfe, I raised him since he was a little boy, I made sure he ate well, I taught him my mother's cake recipes, I gave him the talk, I did everything and now.. Now what do I do?!"

"Well….Er….Isn't that cooking show you like still on?"

"Iron Chef Canada….I think that they are starting a new season…"

"There you see? Just do that until Matthew gets back for fall break!"

" _Oui..._ I will do that!"

Francis drifted back to the empty house, the only sound being from the TV as it had been left on the cooking channel for him. Francis had spent the move in day wandering about the house, as if that would help ease the separation. For some inexplicable reason he now wanted a cat, or perhaps two, maybe even three just so he could have some company, but he knew that would not work well...Perhaps there was a ghost cat around? He didn't know, but he knew as he settled down to watch TV that while he was here moping, his son was off in college and was going to do well, and that was all that mattered.

"...WHY DID THEY MAKE ROBERT A JUDGE?!"

'


End file.
